PITTSBURGH _ For 7- to 13-year-olds, they sure knew a lot about Hines Ward's 14-year career as a Steeler. Much of which predates their time on earth.
Then again, in Pittsburgh, that's not really surprising.
"You remember how you hit Ed Reed and you broke the other guy's jaw?"
Kids peppered Ward, the Steelers' all-time leading receiver and 2006 Super Bowl MVP, with questions like this as he spent Saturday helping them run through football drills as part of Hyundai's youth football camp at Cool Springs Sports Complex in Bethel Park.
Surrounded by a semicircle of participants in yellow T-shirts and, further back, parents wearing No. 86 jerseys, Ward offered some advice. Respect one another. Avoid negative influences. Show up on time and with positive energy. Be the best daughter, son, friend you can be _ not just athlete.
"I wish I had camps like this where an NFL player who'd had success comes back to teach me life lessons as far as having that positive attitude, surrounding yourself with positive people, the way you approach life is just having fun, and stuff like that," Ward said.
Those life lessons still apply as an adult.
So as it's training camp time, what's Ward's advice for Martavis Bryant, suspended for all of last year for violating the NFL's drug policy, or any young Steelers player who needs to avoid distractions?
The hardest thing Ward ever did as a player, he said, was break away from negative people in his life. You're accountable for your own actions, but surround yourself with positive influences.
"Understanding once I broke away, I've kind of flourished," Ward said. "I took off because I didn't have the negative people telling me 'Don't do this, don't do this,' where it can put you in a bad situation where it can cost you, based on a choice, a silly choice, it can cost you your livelihood. I think sometimes you have to mature, you have to grow up."
What about Le'Veon Bell, absent from training camp, yet to sign his one-year contract for $12.12 million and therefore not required to report? Ward himself held out in 2005's training camp, missing almost 10 days, before the season that culminated in a 21-10 Super Bowl win against Seahawks.
So it's not a distraction for other players, Ward said, as evidenced by that win and the culture of other players wanting deals to work out for one another. The life of an NFL running back is often short, and the most important thing is Bell's health, Ward said, but he knows the Steelers won't talk salary unless Bell's at camp.
"If Le'Veon still wants to negotiate on that, he has to report to camp," Ward said. "And the Steelers have always done a great job of taking care of people who have been an integral part of their team."
And Big Ben? As rumors of his looming retirement swirl, how do you decide the right time to hang up your cleats?
It's not about how much Roethlisberger has left in him, Ward said. But priorities shift as you grow older, and you begin to look at putting your body through hell for 16-plus weeks and missing moments with family differently.
"I think he has plenty gas left in the tank, it's just as you get older, your values change a little bit," Ward said. "Football was everything to me, but then when you start having kids and having a wife and you get older, dealing with injuries, football has become a year-round job."
So every year, you evaluate your status with those closest to you.
Just don't be that guy that messes up his last year in the NFL, whether it's this year or seasons from now.
"Sometimes, when you're coming to the end, it galvanizes players because of what you meant to them for so much, like we did with Jerome (Bettis)," Ward said.
The Steelers sent Bettis off with that Super Bowl win after the 2005 season.
As for his Hall of Fame status, Ward doesn't care. He was left off a list of finalists announced in January.
"I don't wake up thinking about the Hall of Fame," Ward said. "No question, I would love to be in it one day, but it's out of my hands. There's nothing I can do. I can't really sell myself. I really don't know what the criteria is anymore, you can't really compare stats because at the time, my stats aren't going to be comparable to a lot of people's especially now. The game has changed so much."
It's just nice to be mentioned in the same conversation as Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. It's the biggest compliment Ward can get, he said.
And he'll remember Dan Rooney as the grandpa he never had who did so much for him, the organization and the city _ in Pittsburgh, not all that surprising.
