Hines Ward
Hines Ward
Hines Edward Ward, Jr.is a retired American football wide receiver, businessman, and television personality. He is the current NBC studio analyst who played 14 seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Georgia. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft, and he became the team's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yardage and touchdown receptions. Ward was voted MVP of Super Bowl XL, and...
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth8 March 1976
CitySeoul, South Korea
I've never had a game where you had an all-time high to an all-time low and then have a guy who rarely misses a field goal miss one and go back to an all-time high again. We don't want to have to go through this many feelings again.
I never went into the game saying I wanted to be the Super Bowl MVP. I just went out and played. And everything worked its way out.
Of course, all wide receivers want to catch all the balls, ... But the game plan that day was for us to go out and run the ball. I only had two attempts, so I made the most of it.
I guess it was the big game with Chicago. At the time, Chicago was the No. 1 defense, being compared to the '85 Bears.
I think when Champ intercepted that ball and ran it all the way back and (almost) scored, Denver had the game in control.
It was in slow motion. That sealed the game right there.
Can we win three road games? We can't look that far down the line. We just have to take it one game at a time.
That was great timing between Ben and I. He threw it to me before I even made my break. That's the timing we're starting to develop. We felt that we had control of the game at that point, but we just couldn't finish it off.
It was a great run. But it's all about where we are at the end of the season, not how many games we've won in a row. Today, they were the better team. It's disappointing, but we just didn't play well today.
No team ever won all three games on the road and won the Super Bowl. Why not try to make history?
This is one of those games you circle on your calendar. You're not going to put all of your chips in one game. But when anyone plays the Patriots, you're going to play your best. You're going to have to play your best.
I'm sure Cleveland is going to be looking to knock us out of the playoffs. It's a playoff run from here on out. We have to play on the road, and what better way to get that experience than to go out and approach each game like it is your last game?
He's touched every player in this locker room in some way, somehow. I just didn't want him to go out like that, one game short of the Super Bowl. It's not often you're playing with a Hall of Fame running back, and a Hall of Fame guy, period. I appreciate what he's done for my career, and having him come back and winning a Super Bowl where it all started, I'm glad to help him achieve that.
Nobody believed in us, but we believed in ourselves, and now we're in the Super Bowl. These last three games on the road show a lot about our team and this coaching staff.