All About Sports

Hines Ward Jr. was born March 8, 1976, in Seoul, South Korea. His parents—Kim and Hines Sr.—had met while his dad was a 20-year-old serviceman. Kim was a 25-year-old cashier in her homeland. Hines Sr. had been a high school football star, but began drinking and frittered away any chance at a college scholarship. His younger brother, Wayne, would go on to play for Eddie Robinson at Grambling. Talent clearly ran in the family bloodlines.

 The Wards returned to the United States a couple of months after Hines’s first birthday. His father was stationed in Fort McPherson, near Atlanta. A year later, Hines Sr. left the family and took a tour of duty in Germany. Alone and feeling lost, Kim spoke no English and had no friends. Mother and son were on their own. Kim found work as a cleaning woman at a trailer park. Professional football player Hines Ward grew up in Atlanta. He found success as a wide receiver for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and joined the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 1998 draft, and went on to become the longest tenured player on the team. Ward would eventually parlay his notoriety into other areas, appearing on the 12th season of the popular American reality series Dancing With the Stars in 2011.