If Hines Ward is not in the Hall of Fame by now, he doesn’t stand a great chance getting in. Retired for over a decade, the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver played in a transitional period. He experienced the shift from a more rushing league to a more passing league, and played in an offense more resistant to that change.
Accordingly, his numbers don’t quite live up to the greatest of his contemporaries, and voters don’t really care about intangibles. Most Steelers fans will proclaim Ward’s qualifications for the Hall of Fame until the cows come home, though.