On Boise State’s first drive of the second half on Sept. 3, senior free safety T.J. Ward stepped up and hit Bronco running back Jeremy Avery. It was his 11th tackle of the game, and it would also be his last.
Ward was helped off the blue turf, and he limped to the sideline with a high ankle sprain. Many assumed he would be back in two or three weeks, but instead it was a month and a half. Week in and week out, Ward watched from the sidelines as his team marched through the schedule. He was doing light running drills before the UCLA game on Oct. 10, but he was scratched at game time. It wasn’t until Oregon played Washington on Oct. 24 that he finally played again. He finished with five tackles while splitting time, and for him it was just a relief to be past his injury and back where he belongs: on the football field.
“Yeah, it was tough,” Ward said of the five games he was out for. “Anytime I’m not on the field doing what I love to do it’s hard. Even with the winning — I was ecstatic that we were winning — but me not being on the field was tough. I wanted it so bad.”
And a week removed from leading the No. 7 Ducks to a momentous 47-20 bombardment of USC with 10 tackles and an interception, the Bay Area native is ready to go home.
“I missed half my season, so it feels good to be able to come back and play in front of all my friends and family and just put on a show for them,” Ward said. “It’s nice to have the support. You see people you haven’t seen in a long time.”
Ward played football for the football powerhouse De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., just a short drive from downtown San Francisco. There, he was a part of a record 151-game winning streak, and then he came to Oregon as a walk-on in 2005. Since then, he’s worked his way from scout team star to full-time starter. This year he was tagged as a pre-season All-Pac-10 member, and it was supposed to be his and Walter Thurmond III’s defense to lead.
“It’s been good,” Ward said. “There has been a lot of ups and downs and I’ve had to go through a few things, but it’s been a good experience. I love it up here. It’s a beautiful state, a beautiful city and I love our football experience and the things we do.”
Ward’s passion for football is evident in everything he does. When he was rehabbing, he would sometimes work too hard and have to tone down his workouts for fear of re-aggravating his ankle. His teammates and coaches also know he’s a force on the field, where he’s known for laying bone-crunching hits on opposing wide receivers.
“It’s good to get T.J. back,” head coach Chip Kelly said. “We finally have our only senior in the secondary back and it’s good for T.J. It was a long, nagging injury and it’s good to have him back because he’s such a physical presence and a leader.”
“Obviously he’s a great hitter,” defensive lineman Brandon Bair said. “T.J. comes up and fills holes and he lays some hits on people that they’re going to remember for years, and that definitely brings some energy to the team as well.”
“That presence is amazing,” cornerback Talmadge Jackson III said. “Everyone knows T.J. is a great player and everybody expects that big hit at one point, but he’s a good tackler first. He’s been here for years; he’s a great, great player.”
That energy was definitely there against the Trojans. Ward was all over the field, breaking up passes and ganging up on USC players.
“After the first hit all the nerves and jitters are out, but you still aren’t in the mid-season shape like if I had been playing before,” Ward said.
But that will come, his teammates say. They’re just happy to have him back, especially with all of the other injuries in the secondary.
“It’s been real nice,” cornerback Javes Lewis said. “Having T.J. (back) has allowed me to move to a corner. It’s been a blessing in disguise for our defense having another strong guy out there.”
It’s been a blessing in disguise for the whole team coming into the last four games of the season. The Rose Bowl is in sight, and although no one on the team will dare mention those two words, they realize the importance of winning the rest of their games. And Ward will lead by the same philosophy he’s practiced since being a walk-on in 2005: just keep working hard.
“It’s just not letting anything stop you,” Ward said, “whatever the naysayers may say or tell you what you can’t do. You know your potential and you just can’t let anyone stop you and just do it.”
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Back where he belongs
Daily Emerald
November 5, 2009
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