I said that?

I said Ward would be fine as soon as we got another guy to take most of the double coverages and we did just that in Santonio Holmes.

To be fair, Ward played really well during the 2005 campaign.

Having Heath and Willie helped a ton, but he played great.

Ward, during his good years, was an outstanding #2 receiver. Excellent possession guy.

Should have retired before last season though. That was painful!!

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The Betty White Watch:

Still unwanted by 32 NFL teams.

Pretty good on NBC though!

Yeah. I'm not sure last year was really that big of a disaster. Perception is skewed by the concerted effort to get him his 1000. Take away that, then aside from being grossly overpaid his contributions as a 3/4/5 receiver aren't the atrocity you're making it out to be. He did have a couple of pretty good games the first half of the year or so.

It WAS painful to watch #1000. Perhaps could have been a nice play, but the defense was all over it. I'm sure that's not how #1000 played out in his dreams.

I fully agree with his being cut. If he could get on with another team I'd watch hoping he could find a little something like Farrior did last year after looking finished the prior year or two.

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Sorry my life is so much more bitchin' than yours. I planned it that way.

One curious thing I remember hearing months ago, after Ward was benched, on the radio.......

Emmitt Smith was talking about Ward and he said that he was suprised Ward decided to do the Dancing With The Stars thing while still an active player.

Talked about just how exhausting the rehearsals and filming was. Said it was actually worse than than prepping for a football season.

Basically said that while it was nice Hines won the dancing contest and all, that there is no question that "helped to age him" and definitely hurt his effectiveness. Said Ward should have waited until after he retired to compete. Said something else about how Dancing With The Stars would have helped a young player, but it could destroy an older one heading into one of his last seasons.

Oh well, water under the bridge now.

_________________


The Betty White Watch:

Still unwanted by 32 NFL teams.

Pretty good on NBC though!

Interesting. I felt like early in the year it may have helped his footwork. But perhaps it's toll took effect later in the year.

Not sure his choice to do it then was all that "curious". Maybe didn't know if there would be an NFL season, or at least an abbreviated one starting later. Such a scenario might have seen Hines retire, so he was already laying the groundwork for a career after football. Also, while Emmit has an interesting point, it might be a little different considering they didn't have the mini-camps and workouts.

I'm honestly pretty shocked Ward still wants to play. And when he signed that contract, neither him nor the Steelers expected him to play it out. That was essentially the purpose of the March roster bonus - because if he wasn't in their plans he was going to have to be cut, giving him plenty of opportunity to find a new home if he still wanted to play. I don't get where people say he was treated poorly or unfairly by being cut - the shitty thing would have been to drop the axe in final cuts in August/September.

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Sorry my life is so much more bitchin' than yours. I planned it that way.

Oh, I think he did the Dancing thing because of the uncertainty of the football season for sure.

I don't really think what he did was selfish, but in retrospect I definitely believe it was major mistake (football wise) for Ward.

But not just Smith, everybody that competes on that show has talked about how it almost killed them. How the workload was just ridiculous.

Even with the abbreviated camps and all, I have to personally agree with Smith. Without question Ward looked more and more gassed each week and I have to believe the Dancing show workout hurt Ward more than it helped him.

_________________


The Betty White Watch:

Still unwanted by 32 NFL teams.

Pretty good on NBC though!

I don't understand much of the heated debate over Ward.

He's done. Most of us picked up on that during the season. He's not even NFL quality at this point, his skills have diminished that much.

The Steelers didn't even want him back at a cheaper rate. Wanted nothing to do with him as a NFL player next season. Wished him well and showed him the door, despite all that he has meant to the organization. If that doesn't scream he's done, I don't know what to tell you.

If you disagree with what has taken place, you're disagreeing with a hell of a lot of people who have forgotten more football than this board collectively knows. Whatever excuses are being made for why he should be on the team, or why it would have been a good idea, are just that: excuses and personal agenda chasing. I don't know what else needs to be said.

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“It’s not hunger that drives me, it’s not hunger that needs to drive our football team. Hunger and thirst are things that can be quenched. We have to be a driven group, we have to seek greatness.” – Mike Tomlin

TB if any of your post is remotely directed at me, I thought Ward was barely NFL quality TWO seasons ago. OBVIOUSLY TB me and the majority of the esteemed SteelerFury posters are well aware the Steelers kept Ward around out of respect so he could get his 1,000 catches. It was a CLASSY move on the part of the organization. What pisses me off is the CLASSLESS KC's of the board pissing on Ward at every opportunity to help promote their personal "agenda." No where in my 3,902 other posts have I said I think Ward has anything left to give as a football player to the Pittsburgh Steelers. I hope that clears it up for you.

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"You seem angry, Drama."
"I've always been, Billy. Only now, I'm drunk too."

Yessir.

So right on the money.

_________________


The Betty White Watch:

Still unwanted by 32 NFL teams.

Pretty good on NBC though!

Oh, from you.......that really hurts.

Please.

Stop.

_________________


The Betty White Watch:

Still unwanted by 32 NFL teams.

Pretty good on NBC though!

Amazing 14-year career but his skills/speed/importance have all diminished.