Friday, January 30, 2009
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Receiver Hines Ward has fielded many questions about his knee that he injured in the AFC championship against the Ravens.
TAMPA, Fla. --It's not exactly a breaking story that Hines Ward's troubled right knee will have a big impact on Super Bowl XLIII Sunday night. It has been talked about all week, hasn't it? It has been talked about almost nonstop since he sprained the thing in the first half of the AFC championship game. "So much that I think my knee deserves an Oscar award or something," Ward said yesterday.
But the impact won't be what you think. It's not going to be the bum knee limiting Ward's effectiveness or failing to hold up for four long hours, which would sabotage the Steelers' chances of beating the Arizona Cardinals. It's going to be the knee inspiring Ward to play one of his greatest games.
Read this next sentence twice because it's so important:
Ward's knee injury is the best thing that could have happened to the Steelers.
Again:
Ward's knee injury is the best thing that could have happened to the Steelers.
"The ultimate chip," he called it yesterday.
"It definitely adds a little fuel to my fire. I want to prove to the naysayers that I can play in this game. I know they're saying I can't do this and I can't do that. I know they're saying I can only run this route or that route because my knee is hurt. No. I want to run all my routes. I want to show the world I can play and help my team win."
That's good enough for me.
I'm not going to predict another Super Bowl MVP award for Ward, but I am convinced he's going to have a big night.
Clearly, Ward is thinking the same way.
"I'm not going to make any bold guarantees," he said. "But what if we win and I have a big game? A 150-yard game? What if I go out there and really rip it up? On one leg?
"That would be a great story, wouldn't it?"
Don't tell me you will be surprised if it happens. C'mon, you know Ward, too. You know how he thinks. You know what drives him. You know he has built a Hall of Fame career, one chip -- real or imagined -- on his shoulder at a time.
Being drafted in the third round in 1998. "Nobody thought I was going to make it," he has said dozens of times since.
Watching the Steelers take not just wide receiver Troy Edwards with their No. 1 draft pick in '99, but Plaxico Burress at No. 1 in 2000. Where are those guys now? Who's still producing big time for the Steelers?
Being told that he couldn't make a Pro Bowl. He has been to four and, on top of that, owns just about every Steelers receiving record.
Having people question if he was worth a huge contract. I plead guilty; I remember calling him "a singles hitter," much to my regret.
Being told that he wouldn't earn that huge money. He won the Super Bowl MVP award the same season he signed his megadeal.
Hearing whispers that he couldn't bounce back this season, at 32, after some tough injuries in '07. He had his fifth 1,000-yard receiving season.
And now the ultimate chip?
"People ask me [if Ward will play Sunday], and I want to smack them," Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "First of all, it's the Super Bowl. Second of all, it's Hines Ward. He's going to be out there and he's going to be just fine."
Hines Ward stretches during practice at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida January 28, 2009 in preparation for the NFL's Super Bowl XLIII football game to be played February 1.(Reuters)
Ward tested his knee in practice for the first time here yesterday. That he did so in a steady rain should tell you that coach Mike Tomlin and the team's medical staff think he's OK -- or at least will be by Sunday night. "Awesome," Tomlin called his work.
Still, Ward said he wasn't going anywhere near all out in practice. "Why should I? There's no rush. I want to save all I can until I get into the game. You don't win the Super Bowl on Thursday or Friday."
No, you win it Sunday.
"Oh, yeah, he'll be there on Sunday," Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said. "He's a money player. In money games, he's going to show up big."
It should be pointed out here that this isn't just hopeful talk by teammates and coaches who realize they need Ward to beat the Cardinals. Roethlisberger, Tomlin and Arians know Ward better than any of us. They're convinced he'll play and play well because, as Roethlisberger noted yet one more time, "It's Hines Ward."
There's actually a feeling around the team that Ward is better prepared to play Sunday than he was in Super Bowl XL, when he won the MVP award. He popped his shoulder in the Friday practice before that game and -- his words now -- "couldn't reach my arm over my shoulder the morning of the game ...
"But I took a shot and played. Once the adrenaline got going and the shot kicked in, I didn't even know I had an injury. I felt it the next day, but it was all worth it.
"I expect it to be the same way Sunday. I don't think I'll even know I have a knee injury or that I'm wearing a knee brace."
Ward isn't likely to win another MVP award, but it won't be because of his knee. If he has a big game, they'll probably give it to Roethlisberger. When Ward won in Super Bowl XL in Detroit, it was because Roethlisberger had a rotten 9-for-21, 123-yard, two-interception night. Ward scored the clinching touchdown in the Steelers' 21-10 victory against Seattle on a gimmick play, a pass from wide receiver Antwaan Randle El.
"I'd love to see Ben win it," Ward said. "I'd love to see any of my teammates win it because that means we probably won the game."
How Roethlisberger will play Sunday after his rocky Detroit experience has been discussed nearly as much as Ward's knee. Ward offered his two cents' worth.
A dollar's worth, really.
"Whatever stats Ben had in that first Super Bowl, I don't see that same guy anymore. It's his team now. He doesn't have to look over Jerome Bettis' shoulder to be a leader. He doesn't have to look over Alan Faneca's shoulder. Now, guys are looking over his shoulder as the leader and saying, 'Lead us. Take us to the Promised Land.'
"I look for Ben to go out and have a great day. He's on a mission. He really wants to go out there and redeem himself."
The Steelers need that, for sure. But they're also going to need plenty from Ward. They were fortunate to beat the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC title game without him in the second half. They won't beat the Cardinals without him.
Good thing Ward will be there.
Ultimate chip on his shoulder and all.
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.
First published on January 30, 2009 at 12:00 am
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