I know what he means here. Ward’s acknowledged on his own many times that he isn’t a speedster. He doesn’t have the typical attributes teams go looking for in a receiver. Hines Ward gets by more on his ability to read the defense and willingness to take shots than anything else. He’s smart and has good hands. Contrast that to the guys with blazing speed who can get behind the defense but never amount to anything; I’m looking at YOU Limas Sweed.
ETA: Congratulations to your son. What position does he play? Do we have a future Steeler in the making?
It was a compliment. I’m saying he’s not exceedingly fast nor does he have great agility and he’s not especially huge or tall - he just has good receiving skills. Guys who make long productive careers without having freakish physical attributes usually do it with work ethic and technique. Maybe you should try to read for comprehension instead of trying to figure out what insult to throw back over whatever I had to say.
I’ll add “unable to understand the use of a bit of hyperbole” to the list of Steeler fan attributes.
I’m actually quite sad about me and the Steelers. Growing up, they were one of my favorite teams. I had my Lynn Swann poster, my outright awe of Mean Joe Green, and pretended to be Terry Bradshaw while playing. My Steeler mini helmet was second only to my Packer bank as my prized possession.
Even to this day, I have a great deal of respect for the Rooney family. I can not think of an owner who has been better for the NFL and a classier guy than Art Rooney, and his son Dan has done the franchise proud. As an organization, they are among the best, with a great history and doing good work.
But all those positive feelings at has been dwarfed by my dealings not with the Steelers, but with Steeler fans. 'Tis a shame, really.
I comprehended exactly what you said. You said he “physically doesn’t do anything that well.”
If you understand football, you understand that running routes, getting open, holding on to the ball when being hit are all “physical things.” These are physical things that are crucial to success as a receiver. So when you say he’s successful without physically doing anything well, you appear to be ignorant of the sport or so biased about Hines Ward that you cannot express a clear opinion about him. The truth is that he does many physical things exceptionally well.
Hines Ward is 24th all time in the NFL in yardage, 16th all time in receptions and 20th in TD receptions, all time. He’s also done this playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers for his entire career, which ought to earn him some kind of bonus points or weighting. He’s presently 5th in the league this season in yardage.
In addition to achieving these stats in receiving, he’s universally recognized as a tough blocking receiver, which has certainly added intangibly to the overall success of the team and has changed the way defenders have to think about their approach to the Steelers. Some teams have even been so focused on him that they’ve put a bounty on his head.
I’ll take Hines Ward over any other receiver out there. He’s emblematic of the Steelers - he’s tough, blue-collar, successful and leaves opponents, or at least fans of opponents, crying about it all.
Thanks. He played tight end and defensive tackle. He’ll have some future, but vis a vis the Steelers, we probably only have a Steeler fan in the making.
Hines Ward is a multi-millionaire. That automatically disqualifies him from being blue collar, sorry. You can still use “scrappy,” if you insist, but blue collar is off-limits.
No, you clearly did not. I could’ve phrased it better, but HongKongFooey clearly understood what I meant to say, so it wasn’t that ambiguous.
Wait, why stop there? Why question my football knowledge here? Why not question my knowledge of reality? For instance, maybe I don’t know that catching a ball or running routes is actually a physical activity. Maybe I have no concept of the physical realm or how biological creatures interact with it!
Yes, and that’s why I was complimenting him. Even if you misunderstood what I said, it was clear from the context that I was complimenting him, so attacking me for being biased against him after I compliment him is pretty silly. My point was that the guy is not a hugely gifted athlete relative to other receivers, and yet with football intelligence, preparation, willingness to be physically aggressive, etc. that he’s had a very successful career. See, this is a compliment - it’s impressive that he’s had the career he’s had even though he’s not especially physically gifted for an NFL receiver.
But no, you’re right. It’s way more obvious to interpret what I said as not understanding that running routes and taking hits are physical things you do with the human body. That is a far more likely explanation than the obvious one where I’m complimenting him.
It’s a phrase used to distinguish a player like Hines Ward from one like Randy Moss or Chad Ochocinco. You might hear him described in connection with a lunch pail too, but that shouldn’t be taken literally either.
Similarly, the Steelers may be described as a blue collar team. Don’t try to interpret that literally either.
You keep saying he’s not physically gifted. If you mean he’s not fast, say that. Otherwise, he’s one of the top receivers ever to play the game. What other physical attributes is he lacking? If none, say he’s not fast.
Do you know what a backhanded compliment is, by the way?
I understood and have to grudgingly agree. But like you said, the propensity for taking things too far on a regular basis taints his career…and his peers agree.
All right, I suppose “blue collar” can be used metaphorically, but… what exactly does it mean? What does Hines Ward do (or not do) that Randy Moss doesn’t (or does)? I only know the term “blue collar” as socioeconomic, so you’ll have to provide me your new definition.
The Steelers consist of a whole bunch of men making six figures a year, as well as a few multi-millionaires. Just like every other team in the NFL. What is it, exactly, that makes them a “blue collar” that doesn’t apply to, oh I dunno, the Chargers or the Patriots or whoever else?
Also, if Hines Ward got traded to the Patriots, would his collar change color? Or if Ochocinco became a Steeler, would he suddenly trade his metaphorical monocle for a hard hat and a pair of overalls?
OK, that’s pretty goddamn funny, picturing Chad in a monocle. And everyone knows that blue collar players on the Steelers drive beat up pickups to the stadium on Sundays. They even carpool to save gas money.
Here, you seem to be familliar with definition 1. But helpfully, with definition 2, they even include an example of a “blue-collar athlete.”
A player with a tough work ethic who is not showy or tending to call attention to himself is often described as blue collar. The Steelers as an organization tend to be blue collar because they operate in a traditional, conservative and non-showy fashion. They generally won’t do things like pay Albert Haynesworth $100 million.
To address your other questions, I would point to Santonio Holmes. He is presently a Steeler reciever, but he would not be one likely to be called a blue collar player. He has an attitude and a work ethic that seems to be more like Chad Ochocinco or Terrell Owens. Look at Plaxico Burress - the Steelers didn’t want to keep him on their team - he wasn’t a very good fit for the organization. I can only guess that if Hines Ward were traded to the Patriots, he would maintain the same ethics and practices. Similarly, I think Wes Welker (a receiver for the Patriots) would fit in pretty well as a Steeler.
We value no-nonsense, tough and hard working qualities here. We like to think that it reflects the city and the people.
Chad Ochocinco works out as hard or harder than any other WR in the league. He’s just a me-first shameless self-promotion machine. But he’s still pretty damn good. And funnier/goofier/less asshole-ish than TO.
Chad is a hard guy to dislike. I don’t know if “blue collar” fits him very well but I wouldn’t mind having him on my team for sure. You can tell opposing players like him a lot too which is saying a lot considering how the stuff he says could be misconstrued quite easily. Chad’s too fast to be a blue collar guy.
This made me laugh. I picture you waking up, falling out of bed into a writhing pool of flesh and bone, with your appendages flailing about wildly while you try and scream “What is this damn thing called physical activity! Why was I not informed about it!! I demand answers!!!”, which only comes out as “Arglebarglemauscifitz” because you lack the concepts of physicality.
And which confusingly sounds very much like “arglebarglemauscifatz,” which in reality means “I can’t believe we didn’t make the playoffs, what with our ability to pass block so well!”
For an NFL receiver, he is not especially fast, nor quick, nor tall, no abnormally great at leaping.
It’s not a backhanded compliment. The guys who are successful due to freakish athleticism don’t have to work as hard for it. But to have as long and successful a career as Ward without being a top notch athlete requires a lot of dedication and effort and savvy. How is that in any way a backhanded compliment? You are both paranoid and thick headed.
Yeah, wow, this is like the 6th thread you’ve brought that little gem into. You’re pathetic. Not only is that a misrepresentation of any position I’ve ever held in multiple ways, but it’s an argument over which you were soundly defeated and proven wrong on, and should shamefully let it die - but instead your tactic is to bring it into threads for 2 years later and implicitly lie about my position to boot.
Well, I won’t argue with you about Pittsburgh being unpretentious or unsophisticated. But how can Randy Moss not be “dependable” when he has more catches than Hard-Hittin’ Hines, even though they came into the NFL at the same time? And, as has already been noted by FoieGrasIsEvil, just about no one works harder than Chad Ochocinco, and yet you say he’s not blue-collar either. (Not to mention that, really, you are NOT going to be in the NFL if you don’t work hard. You’d have washed out by your first year of college ball).
And showy? The man was a holdout before the 2005 season – not exactly what I’d call “blue collar.”
Wait wait… doesn’t your QB have a $100 million contract?
Again with the work ethic slander. Where do you come up with this? I watched Holmes at Ohio State and I never saw him dog it. His scouting report (which, strangely enough, I found archived on a Steelers message board) mentions absolutely nothing about a poor work ethic. So, where do you get this, that Holmes doesn’t work hard but Dirty Hines does? Is there some quote by Tomlin or Cowher that I’m missing?
And this is based on…??? You might be right, but come on, you’re a member of the reality-based community. Share some reality with me. What evidence do you have that Welker and Ward, unlike Holmes or Ochocinco or TO or Burress, have a strong work ethic?
Bzzzt, stop right there. You had Joey Porter on your roster for how many years? That guy typifies nonsense in the NFL more so than just about anyone this side of TO.
[sub]Not to mention that I managed to avoid mentioning your motorcycle-crashing, helmet-eschewing, um, “philandering” quarterback’s characteristics this far.[/sub]
I agree with you quite about quixotic, but you are horribly, horribly wrong in your latest post. I generally like your posts, but when you make huge errors like that, it kinda ruins your credibility about many things.
I was disturbed to hear such nonsense like this from you:
But how can Randy Moss not be “dependable” when he has more catches than Hard-Hittin’ Hines, even though they came into the NFL at the same time? And, as has already been noted by FoieGrasIsEvil, just about no one works harder than Chad Ochocinco, and yet you say he’s not blue-collar either. (Not to mention that, really, you are NOT going to be in the NFL if you don’t work hard. You’d have washed out by your first year of college ball).