Hines Ward on Dancing with the Stars: “I’m in it to win it. I want to win that trophy

[mesaSteeler]

Hines Ward on Dancing with the Stars: “I’m in it to win it. I want to win that trophy.”
March 7, 2011 – 8:45 am by Michael Bean
http://sportsradiointerviews.com/201...urgh-steelers/

To be honest, I’ve never watched one minute of Dancing with the Stars. I don’t despise the premise of the show. I love to go out dancing myself in fact. Just never seen it. That will change this coming season when one of my favorite athletes of all time will be on the show, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward.

Ward joined WCNN in Atlanta to talk about how much of a distraction he thinks Dancing with the Stars might be, how good of a dancer he thinks he is, the process of how he was selected as a contestant, the preparation he’s already started to put in, how he’s been practicing as much as five hours a day already, and how he’s still very skeptical that a new CBA will be reached before a lockout.

On how much of a distraction does he think being on Dancing with the Stars will be and how long will the commitment last:

“I don’t think it will be too distracting. The filming, it goes all the way through like mid-May, June 1st. So it really won’t be that much. It will be like 10 or 12 weeks or episodes. And for me, I get to start off early with my training camp.”

Just how good of a dancer is he?

“Oh, I like to cut up the rug at the club. But I’ve never ballroom danced before. That’s a whole other level itself. The good thing about is nobody’s ever ballroom danced before.”

On how he got on the show — was he contacted or did his associates approach the show:

“Yeah my marketing team came to them and they threw my name in the panel. And with a lot of hard work and negotiation and stuff like that, they thought I’d be a pretty good fit for the show. So when they came to me and asked me, I really didn’t know because when you see it on television you say oh I can do that. But I’ve started, I’m on my third day of practice and I don’t know what I’ve signed up for. You’re hitting the uncertainty or the unknown areas. But all in all, It’s going well. I’ve got a great partner, she’s very encouraging. We’re almost halfway through our whole routine so things are looking good.”

After hearing about how much practice he’s been doing (up to five hours some days), Ward was asked if he is married?

“No.”

But would he agree that it might be awkward to spend that much time around a beautiful woman if he were married?

“No, it’s not like that. Kim [Johnson, his dancing partner] is cool. You know, at first, it was just a respect trying to feel each other out. It’s like a cool relationship because she’s from a different country. Last night she said I had to throw my hand back, and I was like oh kind of like you’re going to pimp slap someone. She didn’t know what that was. She was like pimp, what’s a pimp? So it’s just a good relationship. I’m going to be with her for a long time, hopefully all the way until the championship. So I would never cross the line as far as jeopardizing our relationship. I’m in it to win it. I want to win that trophy.”

Whether there’s a first dance or first few dances that he’s preparing for right now:

“I can’t reveal the first dance, but it’s definitely something that I’ve never come across before. But I’m picking it up pretty fast. You know, it’s easy because we’re looking at ourselves in the mirror so it’s like a whole day using that mirror to try to get synchronized to make sure we’re on the same page and same beat so it looks good on television.”

Whether it is as good a workout as some say it is:

“It is. It definitely is. Just going through the whole workout, it’s definitely the shoes. I get a better understanding and new found respect for all the ladies who wear high-heeled shoes. It’s amazing what they go through. So almost every night I’m soaking my feet for precautionary reasons, because I’m starting to feel the soreness on the balls. So I understand what all the females go through when they go out and purchase that new pair of shoes.”

If he thinks the CBA extensions are a sign that a new deal is close to getting done:

“No I don’t think so. To be honest with you, it seems like you keep adding on time for nothing. So I understand they’re adding seven days to get something done, but it shouldn’t have to come down to this anyway. Right after the Super Bowl, they should have locked themselves in a room and gotten a deal done all the way up until the deadline. We would have had a new deal. But to sit there and keep extending it for a day, and then talk about extending it for another seven or ten days, that right there shows me we’re so apart that it’s not even worth the time. To be honest, we don’t know. I don’t know really when football is going to happen. For me, I’m staying in shape. I’m enjoying Dancing with the Stars. I think the closer we get towards the season next year, that’s when the pressure will be added on to it. But it just messes up the guys in the draft, because if you’re drafted you can’t even talk to the coaches or the staff until the deal gets done….So it just mess everything up. If we didn’t get a deal done, coaches would have to take pay cuts, people are going to get laid off, all the free agents are stuck in limbo because they don’t really know what’s going on. So it just messes everything up. But I don’t foresee getting it done before when the season starts or comes around and something eventually will get done around then.”

[SCMom]

Ward staying busy dancing
By Teresa Varley - Steelers.com
Posted 18 hours ago
http://www.steelers.com/news/article...6-44759596cfa3

Hines Ward isn’t afraid of hard work. He doesn’t mind sweating. He enjoys a challenge.

But even he admits that he had no idea what it would be like to be on the hit reality show “Dancing With The Stars,” when he agreed to take part.

“I didn’t have a clue what I signed up for,” said Ward. “You watch it on television and then you actually get in to the practice and moving around and stuff like that. It’s harder than most people think.”

Ward has been practicing with his dance partner from the show, Kym Johnson, in Atlanta six days a week, five hours a day with two 30 minute breaks getting prepared for the season premiere of the show on ABC March 21.

“It’s very rigorous,” said Ward. “For me this is the offseason. It’s supposed to be a time to relax and get away, but it’s definitely keeping me in shape.

“Every day I am soaking my feet. I have new respect for the ladies who wear high heel shoes. It's a challenge being on the balls of your feet all of the time. But my knee is fine. I just feel soreness from dancing around and moving around the ballroom.”

Contestants on the show compete against each other weekly in ballroom dancing, a far cry from anything Ward has done before. And some of the adjustments have been tough.

“The biggest problem I have is posturing, having broad shoulders, keeping your chest forward and tucking things in,” said Ward. “I have never had to stand like that. The posturing is something I am working on every day.

“I have to be in dancer mode and not football player and at the same time have fun with it. The times I am having fun, my posture is bad. The time I think about my posture I look like I am not having fun with it. I just have to keep practicing and get to the point where I have fun and correct posture.”

Ward is relying heavily on Johnson to guide him through learning the dance routines and he is happy to report he is making progress.

“I am learning the steps,” said Ward. “The steps I learned I did it in three or four days. Getting the whole routine down and getting my arms flying a certain way where they look crisp and not sloppy, that is what I am working on now. I keep telling Kym it feels weird, and she said that is good. I have to get used to feeling weird because when I feel weird I am doing the proper technique.

“I told her to push me. I have been pushed my whole life. I told her if she sees something let me know. I just love her energy. She is real upbeat, real positive. Even when I do bad she encourages me. You have to have a rapport, like Ben (Roethlisberger) and I have with quarterback and receiver. It's something you have to establish and have on the dance floor. It has to show through your dance to look well. We have to be synchronized as one.”

Ward didn’t even get time off for his birthday on March 8, knowing that he still has a lot of work to do.

“It’s definitely tougher than football,” said Ward. “It was my birthday on Tuesday and I still put in four or five hours of work. Never on my birthday have I done anything like that. But it was good. She said I took 10 steps forward yesterday. I am happy, I am getting better. I still have a little more than a week to learn this dance then learn another dance routine after that because there is no elimination the first week.

“I want to get the dance down so then my personality has to come out, smile and laugh. Certain parts of the dance allow me to be myself, and at other points I have to a dancer. You have to really get in to it. I have to pick and choose when I can be myself.”

Ward and Johnson will continue to work in Atlanta until the end of this week and then head to Los Angeles for the final week of preparation before the show kicks off.

“I have to stay out there,” said Ward. “The show is on Monday, elimination on Tuesday. If you keep going you have to practice Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and you are off on Sunday. Then you have dress rehearsal and the next show on Monday.”

Survival on the show is based on scores from the judges and viewers votes and Ward is really hoping that Steelers fans tune in and vote, because he knows what a difference they can make and he wants to represent the black and gold well.

“I want to win,” said Ward. “The previous football players have done well. I watched those guys. It's about getting on the stage. Kym is always asking me how I handle pressure. This is different than football because I did that my whole life. Going on stage and performing a dance routine in front of millions might be uncomfortable, but that is why we are practicing. The more I get it and the less thinking I am doing the better I can become a dancer. I teach that to the rookies. The less thinking you do on the field, the better your performance. When you feel comfortable you go out and perform at your best. I have to apply that to myself.”

One way for Ward to feel comfortable will be wearing the right costume. He has seen some of the costumes contestants have worn in the past, and he wants to make what he wears isn’t too far out there.

“I know it's going to be tight pants,” said Ward. “There is nothing I can do about that. But I don't want my chest hanging out. My son goes to a great school and I don’t want to go to the PTA and have them look at me different. I want to be classic and conservative, but stylish too. I am all about style.”

Ward laughs when he says he isn’t in the competition to become a ballroom dancer. Instead, it’s about being a competitor, having fun and proving he can do it.

“My whole life has been people telling me what I can’t do,” said Ward. “People are asking can you even dance. I can dance, but nobody in this competition has really had formal ballroom training so we are all starting off at the same level. For me it’s me wanting to prove to myself if I can do it or not. It’s something new to me and challenging.”

[SoCalFan]

Man,cant believe im actually going to watch that show!Hope he doesnt pull something...

[SCMom]

Originally Posted by SoCalFan

Man,cant believe im actually going to watch that show!Hope he doesnt pull something...

I know...I've never watched it before myself, but since it's him I know I'm going to have to.

Gotta love this. Apparently she was Sapp's dance partner as well. (Kym Johnson)



And apparently...Warren didn't seem to mind her at all.

[Merchant]

Hines isn't married? Strange.. thought he was for some reason.

[Fire Arians]

Originally Posted by Merchant

Hines isn't married? Strange.. thought he was for some reason.

yah same here. i hear he's a ladies man though lol

[stb_steeler]

Originally Posted by Fire Arians

yah same here. i hear he's a ladies man though lol

Thats why he's not married.......

[Riddle_Of_Steel]

yah same here. i hear he's a ladies man though lol

Thats why he's not married.......

Smart man.....reminds me of that part in "Little Miss Sunshine"...when the grandpa is telling the boy when he gets older to "fxxk a lot of women. Not just one women, but a LOT of women!"

If you want to play around, don't bother to get hitched, lest you end up like Tiger Woods, whose reputation, image, and even his performance were permanently, mortally damaged.

[SCMom]

Video of Ward's rehearsal.

http://www.wtae.com/video/27230058/detail.html

[kirklandrules]

Prediction ... there will be a Kym Johnson notch in the Ward bedpost before this is over.