[Pittsburgh Steelers](https://www.pennlive.com/steelers/) legend, wide receiver [Hines Ward](https://www.pennlive.com/steelers/2024/11/two-pittsburgh-steelers-legends-get-closer-to-becoming-hall-of-famers.html), advanced as a Semifinialist to be inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year, and while he has not made it yet after nearly a decade on the ballot, his former head coach Mike Tomlin still hopes Ward can get in.
Ward won two Super Bowls with the Steelers during his storied 14-year career with the team. The Korean-born Ward excelled as a blocker and receiver, earning the Super Bowl XL MVP and three All-Pro nods.
It is that blocking that Tomlin built his pitch for Ward to get into Hall of Fame on when asked Tuesday why the former Steelers receiver should make it into the Hall of Fame.
“Numbers do not tell his story, although his numbers are special,”Tomlin said. “That’s a guy with 1,000 or so career catches, but if you were around him, if you were in stadium with him, if you were a member of this team or an opposing player, you understood what playing with and against Hines Ward was about. He was a football player first, a wide receiver second. To be quite honest with you, he was an offensive perimeter bully, and I say that in a complimentary way. To me, he’s a legendary player of his generation because of the way he played. The amount of respect that he carried when he didn’t have the ball in his hands, when it wasn’t even a pass, is stuff of legend.”
Ward racked up over 12,000 receiving yards and 85 touchdowns. He ranks 17th in receptions all time, 19th in touchdowns, and 31st in receiving yards while being heralded as perhaps the greatest blocking wide receiver the game has ever seen.
In February, the Hall of Fame will cut the list down from 26 semifinalists to 15 finalists, and Ward hopes to be among those and get his call to the Hall of Fame.