“There’s a vision,” the 68-year-old said during Big Ten Football Media Days in Indianapolis last week. “I’m coming back to Ohio. I’ve been looking for 1,000 acres. I need land, and we’re going to create an educational system that is girded with the gospel.”
Ward envisions a charter school that would start with Pre-K and go all the way to high school with a STEM curriculum and athletics programs.
“We’ll have a state-of-the-art stadium there, a state-of-the art track. A golf course and driving range,” he explained in a booming, baritone voice that befits his life’s work as minister. “Why? Kids need something to do. Listen, I can’t even begin to think where I would have been if I had not played football coming from the area of Dayton where I was at, OK? It was bad influences everywhere, but I was able to dream a dream because I found my passion, and my parents supported that. So kids will be coming, and families will be coming from all over the world to be part of what we’re doing.”
Ward was raised by adoptive parents in the Gettysburg Hill neighborhood and went to Highview Elementary before attending Patterson Co-OP, an upbringing that still brought a smile to his face 50 years later.
“First of all, growing up in Dayton was great,” he said. “I just went to my 50th grade school reunion and saw all the people that went through our grade school while I was there, and we had such a great time and brought back memories.
“There was a big wooded area from some old project, I guess it was built around the turn of the century, and we used to go back to those old ruins, and we had our little bike club, and then we would catch frogs out of the creek that ran right through it.”
At Patterson, he won nine varsity letters and got the attention of college recruiters, including Ohio State coach Woody Hayes.
Ward said he was also interested in other schools, including Michigan, but Ohio State ultimately won out in no small part so his parents could more conveniently make it to his games.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Ward became a starter in 1975, the year Griffin made history by winning his second Heisman Trophy.
In 1976 and ‘77, Ward was a first-team All-American before being the No. 4 pick in the 1978 NFL Draft.
He played seven seasons in the NFL for the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints before moving on to ministry — eventually.
“Every athlete goes through that when they are done playing, so as I wandered and considered, I got a call to ministry, which, at the time was ridiculous,” he said with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘Who, me? You gonna trust me?’ I just couldn’t even imagine it. I could not imagine it, and it took a while for God to deal with me, and I finally submitted to it and got filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Also an Academic All-American at Ohio State, Ward settled in Los Angeles, where he formed the Global Apostolic Ministerial Network and Ward International, an after-school program that helps at-risk youth.
“It’s the glory of God,” he said. “I’ve spent the last 38 years of my life helping other people. I’m a minister in inner cities. I work with kids. I’ve had youth programs with kids, and I’ve donate over $1 million of my own money. Not money I’ve raised. My money. Churches, schools and nonprofits. I have my own church organization. We raise up young ministers.”
He also remains a believer in the power of football and has volunteered as a football coach at Washington Prep High School in L.A.
“Well, I am lucky to have played the game,” Ward said. “First of all, I was physically equipped to do it, and I thank God for that. Listen, you’re six-foot-five or 4 and 3/4, 290 pounds, and running a 4.6 (in the 40-yard dash)? That’s God. You can train and people can get faster, but then the mental durability to consistently keep pressure on yourself to do something, that’s unique. It became a passion, and I just fell into it, but I loved the game.”
In December, he will become the 28th man inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from Ohio State as a player, a group that also includes fullback Bob Ferguson of Troy and running back Keith Byars of Dayton Roth.
Ward’s wait for that call was longer than many, and he admitted becoming frustrated when his name was on the ballot several times in recent years but he was passed over.
“I finally said I’m putting it in God’s hands,” he said. “If and when it happens, it happens. I’m going on with my life, but it is a great honor, man.”
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