Hines Ward to Retire

[Ravens75]

I am a fan of the game of football. Ray Lewis happens to be my favorite Ravens player, followed by Suggs and Ray Rice. Would love to have anyone of those guys suit up for the Steelers.

Understand the rivalry. But to be honest I will be rooting for the Ravens to win it all now that the Steelers are out. I guess its an AFC North thing.:chill

I respect that but you're not a diehard.

There is no way I would root for the Steelers if the Ravens were eliminated. Not a chance.

The rivalry is just too intense for me to pull for the Steelers in anything unless it benefits the Ravens.

As for the comment about being happy if Hines was on our team, I disagree completely. Bart Scott was a good player but I couldn't stand him because of his antics. When he left via FA, I was relieved that the team didn't pay him a big money contract.

Hines is a dirty player that endangered the health of other players and threatened their careers. Keith Rivers hasn't been the same since the dirty shot that he took from Hines and it may cost him the one significant contract he worked his entire life for. Ed Reed is not the same because of Hines cheap shots.

I hope a team does pick him up (wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't AZ) and watch him get beaten to a pulp.

[GOTA]

I'm not sure why everybody is talking about how the Steelers need to reconstruct and get rid of some of their players. They still went 12-4, which is pretty damn good especially with a beat up Rothlesberger. I hate the Steelers as much as anybody else but it seems to be absurd that everybody is talking like they suck and need to overhaul the entire team. I dunno. They fell in the first playoff game to a weaker opponent. Just as the Saints did to the Seahawks last post season. It's the NFL, suprises happen. I'm not sure what the big deal is. 12-4 is a great record still.

It's called the salary cap. The Steelers are way over, as in possibly $35 million cap hell over. They're going to have to cut a ton of money and that means expensive starters. Many of the players that got them to 12-4 won't be on the team in 2012.

[Teavo]

I respect that but you're not a diehard.

There is no way I would root for the Steelers if the Ravens were eliminated. Not a chance.

The rivalry is just too intense for me to pull for the Steelers in anything unless it benefits the Ravens.

As for the comment about being happy if Hines was on our team, I disagree completely. Bart Scott was a good player but I couldn't stand him because of his antics. When he left via FA, I was relieved that the team didn't pay him a big money contract.

Hines is a dirty player that endangered the health of other players and threatened their careers. Keith Rivers hasn't been the same since the dirty shot that he took from Hines and it may cost him the one significant contract he worked his entire life for. Ed Reed is not the same because of Hines cheap shots.

I hope a team does pick him up (wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't AZ) and watch him get beaten to a pulp.

:word

This perfectly sums up my view of Ward. He's garbage.

[GOTA]

I am a fan of the game of football. Ray Lewis happens to be my favorite Ravens player, followed by Suggs and Ray Rice. Would love to have anyone of those guys suit up for the Steelers.

Understand the rivalry. But to be honest I will be rooting for the Ravens to win it all now that the Steelers are out. I guess its an AFC North thing.:chill

Certain players are associated with certain franchises. Rod Woodson won a Super Bowl with the Ravens which is something he never did with the Steelers, yet he is not well loved by Ravens fans. I love the NFL and there are Steelers players that I really respect. I could never root for them though.

As for the team thing you completely lost me. Last year in the Super Bowl I pulled for the Packers the whole way. A couple years ago it was the Cardinals, a team with an owner that I loath. There is no way I could ever root for the Steelers, Bengals or Browns in playoffs no matter who they are up against. If the Steelers had won last week I still would be pulling for the Pats this week even though it would be better for the Ravens if the Steelers won. I just couldn't do it.

[wickedsolo]

I can understand why many on here would never have wanted a player like Hines Ward, but I'm not one of them.

I 100% believe that if Hines Ward were a Raven - and still played the exact same way he did/does - Baltimore would love his tenacity and ferociousness. I contend that a majority of us would feel the exact same way about him as Pittsburgh does.

Just from a WR's stance, why would any Raven fan NOT want a franchise WR like him? Four time pro-bowler, Super Bowl MVP, 1000 receptions, over 12,000 yards, and 85 TD's. Man...who would ever want a WR like that on their team?

I hope that the Ravens eventually find a WR that can produce numbers like that for 13 seasons.

The closest thing the Ravens have had to that is Derrick Mason and he wasn't even drafted by Baltimore and he didn't arrive via free agency until he was 31. He had 5,777 yards as a Raven, and 29 TD's as a Raven.

[cbaywolf]

I think the Steelers and Bengals losing in the first round just show what an easy schedule the AFCN had this season. If the Ravens didn't lose to the bottom feeders, they would have finished 14-2. We swept the division because we are really that much better than the both of them.

This is one of the dumbest statements that I've read on this board. Just b/c the two division opponents lost ON THE ROAD on a particular week has ZERO to do with how tough our division is. The Steelers obviously got hurt down the stretch with injuries to Ben, Mendenhall, and several others in the last game- it doesn't mean they are a bad team- not even close. Really, are you saying this with a straight face?

A second missed pass by Torrey in the End Zone, and it would have been US at the 5th seed and going to Denver- While we are better than the Steelers this year, it was by very little- don't fool yourself.

*You are what your record says you are! 12-4 is not easy to do. They beat the Pats, and lost to us twice- it's not like they are a joke.

[nickh0801]

I can understand why many on here would never have wanted a player like Hines Ward, but I'm not one of them.

I 100% believe that if Hines Ward were a Raven - and still played the exact same way he did/does - Baltimore would love his tenacity and ferociousness. I contend that a majority of us would feel the exact same way about him as Pittsburgh does.

Just from a WR's stance, why would any Raven fan NOT want a franchise WR like him? Four time pro-bowler, Super Bowl MVP, 1000 receptions, over 12,000 yards, and 85 TD's. Man...who would ever want a WR like that on their team?

I hope that the Ravens eventually find a WR that can produce numbers like that for 13 seasons.

The closest thing the Ravens have had to that is Derrick Mason and he wasn't even drafted by Baltimore and he didn't arrive via free agency until he was 31. He had 5,777 yards as a Raven, and 29 TD's as a Raven.

I agree, but you also have to flip sides and say that if he were a Raven, then Steelers fans would NOT like him and say the same things Ravens fans say about him. If he were a Raven, it's certain that Steelers fans would be saying he's not HOF worthy, he's a cheap shot artist etc.

[Ravenswintitle]

I still maintain that he's one of the best slot receivers we've seen in the last decade. Guys like Welker are redefining the role but Ward had a stellar career, cheap shots aside

[Real Fan Dan]

If he does in fact retire i will remember him as an outstanding WR on our arch rivals team.
I'll also remember him as a dirty player and a big time Ravens killer.

But mostly I'll remember that the Ravens wiped the smirk off his face the last two times he played us and on the final game of his career - he didn't smile at all. :) :) :)

[Ravens75]

I can understand why many on here would never have wanted a player like Hines Ward, but I'm not one of them.

I 100% believe that if Hines Ward were a Raven - and still played the exact same way he did/does - Baltimore would love his tenacity and ferociousness. I contend that a majority of us would feel the exact same way about him as Pittsburgh does.

Just from a WR's stance, why would any Raven fan NOT want a franchise WR like him? Four time pro-bowler, Super Bowl MVP, 1000 receptions, over 12,000 yards, and 85 TD's. Man...who would ever want a WR like that on their team?

I hope that the Ravens eventually find a WR that can produce numbers like that for 13 seasons.

The closest thing the Ravens have had to that is Derrick Mason and he wasn't even drafted by Baltimore and he didn't arrive via free agency until he was 31. He had 5,777 yards as a Raven, and 29 TD's as a Raven.

I'll try to be nice but you would be in the very few that would be called the minority.

To say that you 100% believe we would love his tenacity and ferocity is an insult to the intelligence of Ravens fans.

Think about it this in two ways:

-Zeus & CMac while being good to great players for the Ravens were not as well received as other Ravens because they did stupid shit that hurt the team. Hines not only did ignorant/goading stuff but he tried to hurt people which even players as physical and violent as we see understand how they could cut short or end someone's career with a blindside hit or blow to the knee or blatant head shot

-We have a perfect example of how violently you can play the game and still be clean with the greatest MLB to play the game in Ray Lewis. For as physical and intimidating as Ray is, you've never heard him referred to as dirty. Yes they play different positions but Ray has respect for his opponent while Hines does not.

Of note, if you notice Hines hasn't done any of that bullshit since game 1 when literally one of the back judges saved his life because Bernard Pollard was going to stomp Ward into the ground (say what you want about Pollard, he is a real life tough guy that will hurt you if provoked). At that point I think Ward realized he was finished.

Hines is no different then Bill Laimbeer of the NBA that while a good player made himself an antagonist because of dirty play. To this day he doesn't have the respect of his peers because he crossed the line of not just trying to doing anything to win but also to try and hurt people.

That's Hines Ward and I frankly wouldn't view him as anything special.

My team or not.

[RavenusMaximus]

^ I second that.

[Teavo]

Let's not have any more holier-than-thou posts telling us how we would feel about Hiney if he were a Raven. I know how I would feel. I do not like dirty players who intentionally cheap-shot other players. Ward is one of the worst dirty players in the league.

But on the positive side, at least Hiney doesn't rape young girls in bathroom stalls. So at least he has that going for him. See, I can look at the bright side.

Ravens75's post just above (#82) nailed it.