Web posted December 29, 1997

By Marc Lancaster
Morris News Service

TAMPA, Fla. - The spotlight has been on Hines Ward since the first day of preseason practice in August, and it intensified with each game he played.

The focus was on the numbers, with Georgia's senior split end chasing an unprecedented feat - 1,000 career yards receiving, rushing, passing, and maybe even on returns. Georgia's sports information office left fliers for the media at each game, charting Ward's totals as he pursued the record.

But as Ward prepares for his final college game, it turns out the only numbers he was really concerned about ended up being nine and two.

``It's been an exciting season,'' he said. ``With all I've been through at my career here at Georgia, just to come out and finish the season 9-2, and we had a great shot of finishing 10-1.

``It meant so much to me...I mean, this is the way to go out for your last year: 9-2, and we've got a good shot at winning a bowl game and finishing in the Top 10, so you can't ask for anything more.''

Ward could have asked for a shot at picking up the 82 passing yards he needed to achieve his milestone, but he never did. In fact, the week of the final regular season game against Georgia Tech, Bulldog head coach Jim Donnan said the team would let Ward throw a few in an attempt to get him the record. But it didn't happen; before the game, Ward told Donnan he felt winning the game was more important than his yardage total. He didn't attempt a pass, and the Bulldogs won 27-24.

That move was symbolic of Ward's focus on the greater good, said quarterback Mike Bobo, the man Ward replaced at quarterback in 1995 after his classmate hurt his knee.

``As everybody's pointed out, in his career, he's just been an unselfish guy,'' said Bobo. ``It just proves what kind of team player he is - he's had the record all year, and he hadn't even mentioned it to anybody, he's just focused on winning games.''

And if the price of winning games was ending up with 1,965 receiving yards, 1,063 rushing yards, and only 918 passing yards, so be it. Plus, everyone involved with the team knows that Ward has already surpassed 1,000 yards passing - but the 413 passing yards he accumulated against Virginia in the 1995 Peach Bowl don't count in the NCAA record books. Ward refers to that performance as ``an OK game,'' because the Bulldogs lost.

Ward's versatility has caught the eye of Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez, who compares the Georgia all-purpose threat with two similar players in the Big Ten, Iowa utility man Tim Dwight and Michigan's Charles Woodson, who merely won the Heisman Trophy a couple of weeks ago.

``Dwight, who's a player that does everything for Iowa, he can beat you in the return game, he can beat you as a receiver, they try to get the ball in his hands by handing it off to him, he's thrown some balls - now, he's not going to line up and play quarterback, but he's that type of a player,'' said Alvarez. ``Woodson doesn't play near as much offense, but I'd categorize (Ward) as that type of athlete. He can break a game open.''

Alvarez added that Ward ``may bring more to the table'' than either of those players.

Showing up when it counts is Ward's specialty. Perhaps his best game of the year came in the biggest game of the year, Georgia's 37-17 rout of Florida. Ward caught seven passes for 85 yards, and ran five times for 21 yards, then added a 50-yard kickoff return. He also lined up at quarterback several times, helping keep the Gator defense off balance, and completed a 27-yard pass in the game.

Ward had a bit of extra incentive in that game. He wasn't very involved in the offense the week before against Kentucky, and a week before that, when Georgia traveled to Vanderbilt, Ward didn't play at all. A bruised knee suffered against Tennessee, combined with Commodore Stadium's artificial turf surface, kept Ward on the sidelines, snapping a 20-game consecutive start streak - and Ward hasn't forgotten about it.

``It still bothers me,'' he said. ``I think any player hates missing a game; I just love to compete. But it was the smart thing to do. I didn't want to go out and hurt my knee any worse on the turf. So I feel bad that I missed it, but I know it was the right thing to do.''

And doing the right thing has always been what Ward is about. He's quiet but articulate, and always seems to be smiling during the game. What can he say - he loves his job. And it seems certain that football will be Ward's job for a while. He has been projected by some NFL experts as possibly a late first-round pick in the April draft, and even if that doesn't hold up, Ward probably won't be around for much longer before he is snapped up.

Like the individual records, though, Ward doesn't worry about his draft status. It will take care of itself. His current concern is finding a way to put the best possible cap on his spectacular career and, as usual, leave something behind for others.

``This right here is what you're going to always remember, because it's your last game here at Georgia, and it's going to mean so much,'' he said. ``There's going to be a lot of emotions out there on the field. A lot of the seniors, they don't want to go out knowing that they lost their last game here at Georgia, so that's going to be a real big one.''