HERSHEY, Penn.–Former Super Bowl MVP and Steelers great Hines Ward told credit unions here his life has been all about the “people helping people” mantra of credit unions.
In remarks to the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association’s 2017 annual meeting, Ward said that “teamwork” started for him at a very early age as the son of a Korean mother and an African-American father. Given his mixed race, Ward, who was born in Korea, said that as a child he was not welcomed by either the Korean or African-American community.
“I struggled as a child,” said Ward. “But there is not enough money to this day to pay my mom back for the sacrifices my mother made.”
Ward, who may be better known to some as a winner on Dancing With the Stars, now runs the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation, which is dedicated to helping children, including other Korean-American kids such as himself. He shared a story of wanting so desperately to fit in as a kid that when Guess jeans were popular he went to the mall, tore the triangular Guess logo off of a pair of pants he could not afford, and sewed them on to a pair of Wrangler jeans, even though he didn’t know how to sew.
“I could have gotten arrested or locked up just trying to fit in,” he said. “So I get what these kids are going through.”
Throughout his remarks Ward preached the value of teamwork, which is what he said “people helping people” is all about.
“I wear my (Super Bowl) rings because it’s a reminder of teamwork. It’s a reminder of the journey it took to win two Super Bowls,” he told the PCUA meeting. “We were a band of brothers. It took a bunch of unselfish players. And it took a commitment to the family and the Steelers way. Teamwork is the key to everything.”
Even though it was intimidating, when it came to going on Dancing With the Stars, Ward said, “I wanted to be an example to kids. I never wanted to use my environment as an excuse for not being a success.”
Ward added there is a saying that he has always kept in mind, whether it was in sports or on the TV dance competition: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”