Ward is deserving of Hall, coach says
Receiver up for Canton consideration after twice being snubbed
Mike Tomlin carries his passion around on his sleeve, no more so than when he hears two words:
Hines Ward.
The Steelers coach finds it hard to believe his former receiver is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, let alone that he has not even made the final 15 in his two previous years of eligibility.
“He did things at his position that other guys didn’t do,” Tomlin said. “He played a brand and style of ball that made him unique, plus he had the numbers to boot.”
Ward often said that many doubted he could do what he did in the NFL. He would remind all that as a third-round pick from Georgia, he played with a chip on his shoulder.
That chip, if that’s what it was, fueled a 14-year career that became the most productive in Steelers receiving history.
Ward caught 1,000 passes for 12,083 yards and 85 touchdowns, all Steelers records.
He ranks 14th in NFL history in receptions, 25th in yards and tied for 15th in touchdowns, all in a unique way.
But lately, Hines Ward really does not get enough respect. He is among the 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the third consecutive year. In the previous two, he was not voted among the 15 finalists, a vote that is taking place now.
That is difficult to explain, especially to Tomlin, who was a defensive backs coach and coordinator before joining the Steelers. Tomlin says safeties had their heads on a swivel when they played Ward because he blocked like no other receiver.
“His numbers are worthy of consideration,” Tomlin began, “but anybody who’s spent any length of time around here knows the numbers just begin to tell the story of his impact, not only in terms of this organization but in the game of football.”
How? Dial up some of his highlights, particularly the one of him blocking Baltimore’s Ed Reed in a Monday night game in 2007.
People say Reed was never the same tackler after that.
Said Tomlin, “He moved in between the hashes before the player safety initiative. When no other guys who looked like him were earning their money in that space, that guy earned his money in that space, and there was no player safety initiative when he was doing it, for the vast majority of it.”
Ward stood 6 feet, weighed 205 pounds and delivered not just blocks like no other receiver, but big receptions, too, like the touchdown he caught in Super Bowl XL en route to being named that game’s MVP.
As Tomlin noted, he has the numbers, and they stand up well to others already inducted at Canton.
Michael Irvin is in the Hall of Fame and his statistics don’t match Ward’s. Irvin had 750 receptions for 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns.
Andre Reed is in the Hall of Fame and his stats are similar to Ward’s — 951 receptions for 13,198 yards and 87 touchdowns over 16 seasons.
Art Monk is in the Hall of Fame, too, after 940 catches for 12,721 yards and 68 touchdowns.
Neither Irvin, Reed nor Monk were Super Bowl MVPs, either. Neither Irvin, Reed nor Monk had the kind of reputation Ward had as a blocker.
No receiver in the modern era did. This is not to denigrate those other three, all of whom made the Hall of Fame on merit that included my vote. It’s more to point out the injustice of Ward not even reaching the final 15. Twice.
Those who make the final 15 are debated in a daylong meeting of the Hall’s 46 voters, who then select — the day before the Super Bowl — the next class for induction at Canton. Until a candidate reaches those final 15, there is no debate in a room full of selectors because the two previous votes, which cut the list from over 100 to the final 15, take place by mail.
Ward deserves to be debated, at the very least, as a finalist. Tomlin certainly would like to make his case.
“I think something that needs to be assessed is that his style of play was different and unique, and to me that’s what the Hall of Fame is about,” Tomlin said.
“That guy was impactful, and impactful in a different way than a lot of his contemporaries. A lot of guys he’s being compared to now, he was doing it differently, he was doing it in a very physical sort of way. Ask the DBs and linebackers that he played against: Was his presence different than some of those other guys? Whether he was getting the ball or not, he impacted the game. People knew when they were playing Hines Ward.”
Here’s another point: Irvin and Reed both had Hall of Fame quarterbacks throwing to them for nearly all of their careers. Nearly half of Ward’s career came with Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, Kent Graham and Tommy Maddox throwing him passes.
He had Ben Roethlisberger in the second half of his career, but what might he have done had that always been the case?
Most of Ward’s career spanned a time when, rather than pass the ball, the Steelers preferred to run it with Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker. And when they ran it, they could be sure that Ward was out there blocking for them, smiling the entire time.
Linebacker Chad Brown played against Ward and, briefly, with him over his 13-year NFL career.
Said Brown, “He’s the toughest receiver I’ve ever been around.”