KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Oh, hell yes Charvarius Ward still thinks about that play from last year _ the Chiefs' happiest five seconds in nearly a half-century.
The Chiefs showed man coverage but played zone, which meant Ward sat behind New England's Rob Gronkowski, perfectly positioned when the ball bounced off the tight end's hands.
With that interception, the Chiefs would've played in their first Super Bowl since the 1969 season. With that interception, Ward's name would be synonymous with one of the most important and most clutch plays in Kansas City history _ Otis Taylor in Super Bowl IV, Brett off Gossage, Hosmer's mad dash home ... and Ward on Brady.
So, yes. With the Chiefs preparing for a divisional round game against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium Sunday, you're damn right Ward thinks about that play.
Wouldn't you?
"I probably would've been a young KC legend right now if that counted," he said. "There's no telling where I'd be right now as far as status in the NFL. An undrafted rookie catching an interception off Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game, sending him home, sending Kansas City to the Super Bowl? In 40 or 50 years I probably would've been a legend.
"But it is what it is. I'll make up for it."
Not bad for a guy who can't see the ball so good. More on that in a minute.
Part of how Ward is working to make up for last year's loss is with his ball skills, a jargon-y football term that isn't exactly what it sounds like. Because skills implies the ability to catch a ball.
Ward, like all defensive backs in the NFL, can catch a football.
The trick of it is the technique and preparation that create the interception _ anticipating what the receiver might do, staying with him, knowing when the ball is in the air and having the confidence to turn away from the receiver and toward the ball to make the play.
Ward had a terrific season. Quarterbacks completed just 47.6 against his coverage with one touchdown and two interceptions. His 67.3 passer rating against was bested by only Tre'Davious White, Richard Sherman and Stephon Gilmore, according to Pro Football Focus.
Ward thinks he can be one of the league's best three cornerbacks, just as long as he improves one specific weakness.
"My ball skills," he said. "When the ball is in the air I've gotta be more confident that I can go up and make the play. I've got to think the ball is mine. Instead of trying to get (pass breakups) all the time, I just gotta go up and attack the ball a lot more than I do."
Ward's coverage is typically tight but too rarely dangerous. He has just two interceptions this season. The first came on a broken play against the Raiders, and the second on the best play he's made as a pro _ one-on-one against DeAndre Hopkins, a fade route toward the sideline in the end zone, out-muscling one of the league's best and most physical receivers for a one-handed interception.
Ward keeps that ball in his bedroom, but he knows he should have more. He is engaged in a process to do that. Part of this you'd expect.
Part will surprise you, and might leave your head shaking.
The part you'd expect: practice. Lots of practice. Every day he goes to the JUGS machine, and a few times a week he runs drills to help _ mirroring fade and post routes and literally practicing the act of interceptions.
Sometimes those passes come from a machine, sometimes a quarterback. Sometimes the receiver he's going against is imaginary, sometimes it's a teammate.
He's always done drills like that but turned the frequency up the last two months or so, part of what he's described as his learning how to be a pro. He gives new teammate Tyrann Mathieu much of the credit for showing him what that means.
But here's the part Mathieu can't help with, and the part that will surprise you:
Ward has terrible vision, even when he wears his contacts during games.
"I can't see the ball until it gets a couple feet from my face," Ward said. "When it's in the air it's super tiny. I can't really see it. So I'm trying to stay with the receiver as long as possible instead of going for the ball. Because I can't see the ball until it's close.
"I wear the contacts, but they don't help. If I could wear my glasses in the game, I could see the ball 30, 40, 50, 60 yards away. With contacts, I can't see it until it's right up on my face."
That seems like a big problem, no?
Ward's eyesight has been terrible his whole life. He had to repeat kindergarten because teachers thought he had a learning disability, but at some point they realized he just needed glasses. The solution was so successful that he skipped his sophomore year of high school.
Ward said the problem is especially bad at night. He has plans to get LASIK surgery after the season.
"I know I can catch, I just gotta trust my vision," he said. "I can see the ball a lot. It's just when that ball is coming down, I don't know where the hell it's at. So I just try to play through the receiver's hands a lot of times."
It's a startling disclosure, to be sure. Ward's vision is obviously good enough to hold up against the rigors of an NFL season, but the problems he describes simultaneously make his breakout even more impressive and his tendency to play the receiver more understandable.
Kickoff against the Texans is in the afternoon, but the lights will be on by the fourth quarter. Dark or bright, Ward wants to go where the Chiefs could not a year ago.
"I'm way more confident in myself," he said. "At this point in the season, I'm relaxed when I'm on the field. I know what's coming a lot of times. I've gotten smarter with the X's and O's of football. My body's feeling good.
"I just gotta go out there and do what I'm taught. I think we'll be good. Not just me, the whole secondary, the linebackers, defensive line, too. Everybody."
