# Charlie Ward was a heisman winner



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

I was not aware of this! Seems he chose football over basketball because everyone questioned his size and passed him over. Just something interesting I thought I could share.



> Ward was up to the challenge. After spending 1988-89 at nearby Tallahassee Community College, he hit the books at FSU and joined the football team at the bottom of the depth chart. And that's where he stayed, even while becoming the basketball team's starting point guard. But he still had his dreams of Saturdays in the fall. "I was going to be a quarterback," Ward says, "and Coach Bowden was true to me in everything he said." In 1991-92 Ward led the basketball team to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16, and that September, Bowden made the 6'2", 190- pound athletic prodigy his starting quarterback.


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

How come hes not in the NFL?


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## LionOfJudah (May 27, 2003)

NBA Career's last longer on average compared to those of a scrambling NFL QB.


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## truth (Jul 16, 2002)

6'0" quarterbacks dont usually make it in the NFL


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

Come on a possible NFL star like every Heisman verse a medioqure NBA career.


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## Rashidi (Oct 2, 2003)

Yeah, ok. Crippling injuries and non-guaranteed contracts in the NFL compared to relative safety on the court and guaranteed contracts.

Ward has probably made more money in the NBA than he would have in the NFL, and other than his knees, his body is fine.

If Ward has been having knee trouble the past couple seasons, how would that have bode well for his NFL career? He'd probably be out of the league by now.

I'd rather be a backup PG than a backup QB.


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

Well still it is kind of weird for a Heisman winner to not go to the NFL...Im not sure on this but I am pretty much willing to say that he is the only Heisman winner not to enter the NFL draft


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## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

Well yeah Id rather be a backup PG thabn backup QB but not backup PG over Starting QB....well I would rather be backup PG but I dont enjoy football as much as bball so thats me


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## Knicksbiggestfan (Apr 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Rashidi</b>!
> Yeah, ok. Crippling injuries and non-guaranteed contracts in the NFL compared to relative safety on the court and guaranteed contracts.
> 
> Ward has probably made more money in the NBA than he would have in the NFL, and other than his knees, his body is fine.
> ...


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

The actual story of why Charlie Ward chose basketball over football happened when Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) tackled him in Charlie's senior year (Miami-FSU game). Charlie told him this would be his last year playing football because he didn't want to take hits like that.

NFL teams were fully aware that he had no intention of playing football ever again.

Edit: Rocky Johnson told this story a few years back when being interviewed (he was talking about playing college football and why *He* couldn't go and Charlie came up.


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## TyGuy (Apr 19, 2003)

Very interesting story, also very interesting he won the heisman with everybody knowing he wouldnt play in the NFL. Is he the only heisman winner to never play or enter the nfl draft like someone above asked?


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## bl611 (May 7, 2003)

Never heard that Rock story before, as far as I know he was a 6 foot option QB, there are plenty of option qb's who are great in college, but don't even get drafted in the pro's, with the emergence of Vick who's a 6 foot option QB it's kinda changing, but as far as I know at the time Ward wasn't drafted cause he just wasn't thought of as good enough....


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## shyFX325 (Jul 28, 2002)

this is the officail iam 14 years old or younger thread.....

the heisman means nothing when it comes to who is gonna be a good pro. along this same time miami QB gino torretta won the heisman, not sure if he ever made it into the league. if he did it wasnt for long


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