Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Hines Ward will be looking to win his third Super Bowl today. But does he still get the respect that he deserves?
Sure, we all know that he is the most violent wide-receiver that has ever played the game. I mean, sometimes he plays the position like he is on defense with the vicious blocks he has made over the years. And he is one of the guys that you would love to have on your team and hate to play against.
Ward became the 12th player to surpass the 900 reception mark. His 954 catches and 11,702 receiving yards are both Steelers records.
If he were a “diva” wide-receiver with his type of credentials would it be different?
Let’s say if a player like Chad Ochocinco or DeSean Jackson had two Super-Bowl rings already. Most people would probably place them as “top ten” without hesitation.
Let me ask you this….when you think of the top ten wide-outs in today’s game do you think of Ward?
Perhaps not!
You think of Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Roddy White, Reggie Wayne, Brandon Marshall, DeSean Jackson, Calvin Johnson, Greg Jennings, Miles Austin and Vincent Jackson.
These are the players that immediately come to mind.
What is the biggest difference, between those ten guys and Ward?
Those other guys make SportsCenter every week by making one-handed catches, leaping over other players and getting runs after the catch for 50+ yards. Ward does the dirty work making the tough catches in traffic and by making great blocks for his running backs.
Ward has always had that wide-receiver opposite of him to do the different things that gets fans out of their seats. He played with Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes and now currently Mike Wallace. Those guys have made the fancy plays for the Steelers.
Let me ask you this… would you take a guy with those skills sets or would you take Ward?
Ward has great hands, but he doesn’t go out and make those eye-popping catches. He may not be able to make the fancy catches, he may not even have the hops or have the blazing speed, but what he does have two Super Bowl championships and is a former Super Bowl MVP.
Many people wonder what will Ward do after this year’s Super Bowl. There are rumors going around that he may consider retire and if he loses it’s about 50-50.
Let’s hope that he plays awhile longer, because the NFL needs more receivers like him.
–Raymond Stokes