After his team dealt a decisive defeat to the Seattle Seahawks with 21-10 at the fortieth Super Bowl in Detroit on Sunday, MVP Hines Ward from the Pittsburgh Steelers kisses the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Hines Ward’s Mother Recalls Hard Road to Success Hines Ward Given Hero's Welcome in Korea Football Star Talks of Feelings About Korean Roots One Man's Power to Change Ingrained Perceptions Hines Ward Tearfully Receives Seoul Citizenship Football Star's Mother Looks Back in Anger Super Bowl Hero Hines Promises Korea He'll Be Back Hines Ward Returns to Help Nation's Biracial Children Two Stars Join Forces for Mixed-Race Korean Kids Hines Ward Starts Foundation with US$1.2 Million Half Korean Lands Lead in New ABC Drama

In the 40th year of the U.S. most-loved sporting event, Ward was good for five catches and 123 yards including the final TD leading his team to a 21-10 victory -- a feat that made him well deserving of the MVP designation. Ward put on a strong rushing performance too, pushing back the Seahawks by 18 yards in his sole attempt. Riding the athlete’s wave of activity on the field, the Steelers were able to muster enough hustle to once again rise to the zenith of the sport, after 26 years of naught. This Super Bowl win puts the Steelers in a class of titans as their name is added to the sparse list of five-ring teams like the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers.

Fighting against a stonewall of defense dished up by the Seahawks, it wasn't until the second quarter, when Ward pulled an 18-yard run on an end-around, that the real onslaught began. At the second attempt at a third down, the real tide-turner, Ward hustled to realize a reception from Ben Roethlisberger which played no small part in the quarterback’s later dive left for a reaching touchdown which put the Steelers ahead at 7-3.

With the Steelers clinging to a 7-3 lead at the half, Willie Parker took home a 75-yard rushing touchdown (the longest run from scrimmage and the longest rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history) which enabled Ward five minutes and 56 seconds into the fourth to deliver the death blow to the Seahawks with one last end-zone visit. As soon as the offense rushed, Ward, who dashed forward to the center, suddenly headed right and picked up a high pass from Antwaan Randle El and rushed into the end zone, widening the score difference to 21-10. The 43-yard touchdown was the longest pass catch among two team’s wide receivers of game. Having been deprived of the ball at the decisive moment, the Seattle Seahawks failed to turn their dreams of bringing home rings for the franchise into reality.

Hines Ward was born in 1976 to his Korean mother Kim Young-hee and his African-American father Hines Ward Sr., who was in Korea with U.S. forces. The following year, he went to the U.S. and has been living with his mother since age seven. Ward left quite an impression during his early days at Forest Park High School and later at the University of Georgia, where he was a stand-out athlete in all offense positions, quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

(englishnews@chosun.com )