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Wasn't Easy, But Ward Is Here

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By ROY CUMMINGS

rcummings@tampatrib.com

Published: March 3, 2009

Updated:

TAMPA - You've probably never heard of Ottawa University. Neither had Derrick Ward when the Kansas school reached out to him six years ago.

Ottawa needed a running back for its football team. Ward needed a way back into the game that poor grades forced him to walk away from two years earlier. It proved to be a perfect marriage.

Now Ward, who ran for an NAIA single-season record 2,061 yards and 28 touchdowns for Ottawa, believes he's entered into another perfect marriage with the Bucs.

"I told my agent when free agency started, 'Just get me to Tampa,'" Ward said Tuesday after signing a four-year contract. "I just feel this is the right fit for me."

The Bucs feel it's a good fit for them, too. The deal they signed the 28-year-old Ward to is worth $17 million overall, including $3 million in guarantees and a $3 million salary in 2009.

For that they're getting a player who seems eager to run in a tandem with Earnest Graham and who didn't hesitate to predict special things for the duo this coming season.

"We're going to turn some heads this year," said Ward, who continually turned heads last season as Brandon Jacobs' running mate in the Giants' record-setting backfield.

The Giants became only the fourth team in NFL history to have two backs run for 1,000 yards or more in the same season. Ward thinks the Bucs could soon become the fifth.

"Earnest and I will be a great complement to each other; it will work out perfect," said Ward, whose journey to the NFL and stardom is as improbable as it was arduous.

It started in a broken home in South Central Los Angeles, where Derrick and his sister used to sleep on the floor to avoid the gunfire exchanged between members of the neighborhood's rival gangs.

From there it moved to Moreno Valley, where Ward first showed off his football skills as a prep star and then to Fresno State, where Ward starred on the field but struggled in the classroom.

Then came the stop at Ottawa, which turned into a stint with the New York Jets, who pretty much ignored him, and finally that four-year run with the Giants, whom he won a Super Bowl with.

"I've had to fight through a lot to get to the point where I am now," Ward said. "I'm thinking about writing a book afterward. I mean, it's amazing I'm still here."

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979.

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