Hines Ward Noncommittal On Retirement Plans

Added on Jan 27, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

You probably won’t see odds on it at any sportsbook, but one of the main storylines of the forthcoming Super Bowl could be the future of Pittsburgh Steelers’ veteran wide receiver Hines Ward. Ward is in his thirteenth season, and there has been speculation that he’s considering doing what so few professional athletes get the opportunity to do–to go out on his own terms and at the top of his game. Despite the obvious appeal of such a scenario, Ward has remained noncommittal on his future plans.

Much of the talk was prompted by what at the time seemed like an offhanded comment–in April, Ward was visiting a Pittsburgh area high school and told the students that he’d retire if he won a third Super Bowl. Ten months later, Ward’s speculation is on the verge of becoming a reality though he insists that he hasn’t given retirement much thought one way or the other:

“My mom asked me that the other day. I really haven’t thought about it, to be honest. I don’t want to make an emotional decision based off that.”

By any metric, Ward has had a stellar career with two Super Bowl rings, one Super Bowl MVP award and 14 team receiving records, including most yards (11,702), catches (954) and touchdowns (84). Some have suggested that Ward would like to follow in the footsteps of Steelers’ running back Jerome Bettis, who announced his retirement following Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl win over the Seattle Seahawks. Ward says that’s not really a factor:

“I know Jerome went out on top and stuff like that. I really haven’t thought about it. I just want to be singly focused on winning this ballgame and figure out what is going to happen after that.”

Ward is by all means still a viable NFL wide receiver, though his production has started to slip somewhat. He was second on the team in receptions this season, trailing Mike Wallace by one, but Ward’s 59 catches were his fewest since 2000. His yardage and touchdown catches were also off his career averages.

The Steelers are currently +2′ point Superbowl betting underdogs to the Green Bay Packers.