REACHING HIS NFL DESTINY
After years of bouncing around pro rosters, Greg Ward now vital cog in Eagles’ offense
There are inspiring sports stories. Then there is Greg Ward Jr., NFL wide receiver.
Not quarterback.
Wide receiver.
“Just having a lot of faith and never quitting,” Ward said. “Not once did I have it in my mind that this wasn’t going to work.”
If you’re a University of Houston fan, you already know Ward’s name.
If you follow sports in the fourth-largest city in America, you should still remember it.
The 13-1, Peach Bowl-winning Cougars. UH, top-10 ranked in 2015 and ’16. Tom Herman, the “H-Town Takeover” and Ward.
A speedy, fearless, constantly dangerous, 5-11 QB.
Three years after playing his final game as UH’s on-field leader, Ward has become a critical receiving weapon in the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense.
Eventually become.
Finally.
“I never really cared about what people had to say about me. I always believed in myself,” Ward said Friday, as the NFC East-leading Eagles prepared for a regularseason defining, Week 17 road game against the New York Giants. “I always knew what I could do. I always knew how I could help the team.”
The NFL did not.
Ward went undrafted in 2017. Then he was signed by Philadelphia as a rookie free agent, waived, signed to the Eagles’ practice squad, released and re-signed to the practice squad.
That was the year of the “Philly Special.” Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, Doug Pederson and a Super Bowl trophy, via a still-memorable 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in LII.
That was the year when Ward’s pro career was just beginning to pinball.
Signed to a reserve/future contract. Waived. Signed to the practice squad. Released.
During the 2019 season, the 24-year-old wideout has appeared seven times on the Eagles’ transaction list. Ward made his
NFL debut in Week 3, recording just two snaps. Then he returned to the practice squad for seven more games.
Then came the real breakthrough.
Seven targets, six catches and 40 receiving yards in Week 12 against Seattle. Twenty-three targets, 15 catches and 166 yards during three consecutive season-changing victories from Week 14-16 that pushed Jerry Jones’ Cowboys to the verge of 2019 extinction.
Throw in a late fourth-quarter, gamewinning touchdown against Washington in Week 15 and a season-high 71 yards during a crucial win over Dallas last week, and Ward has suddenly become a key component in Philly’s playoff push.
“You really can’t be too serious about something that is very important and we take that approach every single play, every time we step on the field. To be a part of it, man, is just a blessing,” said Ward, who threw for 8,704 yards and 52 TDs, and ran for 2,381 yards and 39 TDs during his four seasons playing for the Coogs.
Timing, injuries and Ward’s evolution as a pro receiver helped create his opening with Philly.
But what guided Ward from undrafted to unwanted to the Alliance of American Football’s San Antonio Commanders to one of Wentz’s primary offensive options? Faith.
He acknowledged being “down” when he kept bouncing and bouncing for years, always falling away from an active NFL roster. But even when Ward’s personal plan wasn’t working, he always believed that it ultimately would.
“You have to have faith,” Ward said. “Because without that, I don’t think you could ever go through adversity and overcome it.”
The QB who beat Jimbo Fisher’s Florida State Seminoles in a magical Dec. 31, 2015, Peach Bowl received a return on his faith from UH’s fanbase. They kept believing in Ward and pushing the former QB forward.
“There was a lot of fans that was supporting me even when I was going through the whole process,” said Ward, who spent the recent holiday with Baltimore linebacker Tyus Bowser. “I really do appreciate that. Because they always believed in me, they always had faith in me.”
Two weeks ago, I was watching NFL Sunday highlights after the Texans won the AFC South in Nashville, Tenn. Ward’s name kept popping up on the screen.
Last Sunday, I was driving north for the holidays and listening to a Cowboys-Eagles broadcast. Ward’s name kept coming through the radio, play after play.
He used to mean everything to the Coogs.
Then he bet on himself, tried to do what is so rarely done, kept being told it would never happen and kept betting on himself.
“You have to be dedicated,” Ward said. “You have to be dedicated to your craft. You have to be dedicated to your body.
You have to be dedicated to whatever you’re doing.”
Just making a weekly 53-man roster would have meant that Ward was right.
Catching a single pass in one game would have proven everyone wrong.
He caught four passes for 71 yards (17.8 average, long of 38), ran once for 5 yards and returned a punt last Sunday in a big Philly win against the Cowboys. This Sunday, Ward’s Eagles are playing for a division title and the playoffs.
Stay humble. Outwork everybody.
“My mindset is continue to work, no matter the success or the failures,” Ward said. “They’re both the same — they’re both there to either help you or hurt you. It’s just the approach that you take on it.”
From 2015-16, only two NCAA QBs recorded at least 6,000 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards: Deshaun Watson and Ward.
Watson is the Texans’ franchise quarterback and about to make his second consecutive postseason appearance.
Ward is an NFL wide receiver.
For the ex-Cougars QB, that professional job title says it all.
“I feel like I have a long way to go,”
Ward said. “I’m going to continue to work for it, for everything that I’m aiming for.”