Ward Earns His Place in Steelers Lore

Hines Ward didn't need the extra motivation. Not on this night. Not after this season. Just a few months ago the Pro-Bowl wide receiver was a holdout wondering if he was truly valued by the Pittsburgh Steelers. His answer was inscribed on a new five-year $27.5 million contract.

That would be: Yes.

And then on Sunday night, just moments before the start of Super Bowl XL, the man against whom he was always measured – the Steelers' Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann - walked onto Ford Field in Detroit to a roaring ovation near the end of an emotional parade of living Super Bowl MVPs.

It was almost more than the 29-year-old Ward could handle. Almost.

Hours later, Hines was also a Super Bowl MVP.

His five catches for 123 yards and a game-breaking fourth-quarter touchdown led the Steelers to a convincing 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks and earned Hines a sacred place in Steelers lore – yes, alongside Swann and John Stallworth, the greatest receivers in franchise history.

It was almost more than Ward could handle. Almost. "I can’t believe this," he said more than once, as if he were pinching himself amidst the post-game euphoria. "For a guy who grew up watching guys like Jerry Rice and Joe Montana in Super Bowls, I’m at a loss for words."

Five catches does not seem like much at all. Not for an entire game. Not enough to be deemed most valuable. Yet there was little debate to Ward's claim to the keys he twirled subconsciously – keys to the sweet new ride awarded to the MVP – in his fingers long after the game.

His first two catches each converted third-down situations during a second-quarter drive that earned the Steelers' their only touchdown of the first half. The latter, a 37-yard beauty from an until-then jittery QB Ben Rothlisberger, converted an unlikely third-and-28 and seemed to stabilize a Steelers team that has seemed nervous and out of sync despite the support of an overwhelming Steelers-friendly crowd. "I think we were all trying to do a bit too much," Ward said.

In the third quarter, Ward caught two more passes during an eight-play drive that could have all but closed out the Seahawks. But it ended when Rothlisberger was picked off at the Pittsburgh 4-yard-line by cornerback Kelly Herdon, who returned it 75 yards, the longest in Super Bowl history.

But Ward's final catch was the clincher.

With just under 11 minutes left in the game, and the Steelers leading only 14-10 and sitting just across midfield, Rothlisberger got the ball to running back Willie Parker heading left, who then handed it to wideout Antwaan Randle El, a former college QB, who launched it to a so-wide-open-maybe-I-could-have-caught-it Ward for a Seahawk-killing TD.

"He's an athlete," Ward said of Randle El. "I knew he would throw a hell of a ball and I was just hoping it would come down faster. That sealed the game for us."

The play might not reach the iconic status of Swann's sprawling over-the-shoulder catch against Dallas in Super Bowl X, but for this generation, it just might be.

Value is a word that is tossed around a lot in sports these days. And too often it is measured solely in dollars.

During his holdout, Ward, already one of the leading receivers in Steelers history, received a telephone call from head coach Bill Cowher, who reached out to the wideout at the urging of veteran running back Jerome Bettis. The value of Cowher's words was immeasurable. Almost. Unless you consider the return Cowher, Ward and the Steelers received on Sunday night.

"He said what I needed to hear," Ward said of his coach. "He said, 'Let's go win a Super Bowl.' That helped me know that this is where I wanted to be. What a wild ride.”