You can’t wipe the smile off Hines Ward’s face. You never could.
So even though Pro Football Hall of Fame voters cracked back on ol’ No. 86 for the second year in a row, knocking him out before the final 15 candidates were announced, Ward had himself a laugh Thursday.
A bittersweet one, maybe, but a laugh nonetheless.
Ward was making a valid point, too: He didn’t always have the greatest quarterbacks. He’d been a starter for five years by the time Ben Roethlisberger came along.
“And I had a young Ben,” Ward said. “We only asked him to pass the ball 20, 25 times.