Hines Ward played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1998-2011 and retired a legend a year ago. After retiring, the Steelers unofficially retired Wards’ No. 86 and it will not be issued to players in the future. Ward retired as the Steelers leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Ward helped the Steelers to the Super Bowl three times and won twice including Super Bowl XL in which Ward won the MVP award for his performance.
Following his NFL career Ward has kept busy. The final movie of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy included a scene of Hines Ward returning a kick for a touchdown. He also signed on to be an analyst on NBC’s Sunday Night Football a position he worked in for the entire 2012 season.
There was also Ward’s 2011 win on the TV show “Dancing with the Stars.”
Now Ward will be back on the screen for his TV debut on the AMC network hit “The Walking Dead.” Ward was college teammates with an actor that stars on the show and was able to get himself a role in the show as a zombie extra. He will premier in an episode during the upcoming season.
A picture of Ward in full-zombie make-up was just released:
“Just being in makeup preparing me for my role was cool. I actually scared myself when I looked in the mirror for the first time after,” Ward told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Ward made headlines earlier this week when he talked about the struggles of the “Young Money Crew” during the 2012 season. He also re-stated that he is still upset about how his NFL career ended; mainly because it wasn’t on his terms.
He made headlines again today when it was announced that Ward would receive the “Dapper Dan” Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented to Ward by former-Steelers head coach Bill Cowher.
“Being selected for the Dapper Dan Lifetime Achievement Award is a big honor for me,” said Ward. “It’s very humbling for me, and I am grateful to the folks at Dapper Dan.”
Ward, 36, played 14 seasons for the Steelers before retiring prior to the 2012 season. He finished his career with 1,000 catches, 12,083 receiving yards and 85 receiving touchdowns — all team records.
Photo Credits: Steelers.com
