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How good would Charlie Ward have been in the NFL?

Posted on 12/14/24 at 11:00 pm
Posted by TexasTiger08
Member since Oct 2006
29132 posts
Posted on 12/14/24 at 11:00 pm
I was 7 years old when they won the natty in 1993. That Orange Bowl was an exciting game, but it’s not like Ward and FSU lit up Nebraska (who I’m sure had a great defense at the time).

30 years later (!) I feel like it would be unprecedented for a Heisman winner to not play in the NFL. I know the stigma of a black QB still existed to a degree, despite the heroics of Doug Williams and Randall Cunningham.

Just curious what the board thinks.
Posted by lsusa
Doing Missionary work for LSU
Member since Oct 2005
6199 posts
Posted on 12/14/24 at 11:05 pm to
Iirc, Ward was looked at as a 3-4th round pick.

quote:

30 years later (!) I feel like it would be unprecedented for a Heisman winner to not play in the NFL.


You say that, but there were plenty of Heisman winning QBs who never had much more than a cup of coffee in the NFL. Gino Torretta, Tory Smith, Jason White, Eric Crouch…
Posted by Chicken
Jackassistan
Member since Aug 2003
26886 posts
Posted on 12/14/24 at 11:07 pm to
quote:

I know the stigma of a black QB still existed to a degree
It was more because he was undersized...From his Wikipedia page:
quote:

Upon graduation, Ward stated he was undecided about professional basketball or football and made it clear that he would not consider playing in the NFL unless selected in the first round of the 1994 NFL draft. Ward proclaimed that he "deserved to" be a first-rounder.[2] Ward's mother reported that the family was told he "was probably a third- to fifth-round pick."[3] Due to his smaller stature and uncertainty about whether he would play in the NBA, Ward was not selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Having been chosen in the 1st round (26th overall) of the 1994 NBA draft by the New York Knicks, he began his career in the NBA as a point guard. An inquiry was made during Ward's rookie year with the Knicks for him to become the backup quarterback for Joe Montana of the Kansas City Chiefs, but Ward declined. Ward is the only Heisman Trophy winner to play in the NBA, and one of only three Heisman winners to play professionally in another Big 4 league (Bo Jackson and Vic Janowicz both played Major League Baseball).
This post was edited on 12/14/24 at 11:58 pm
Posted by TexasTiger08
Member since Oct 2006
29132 posts
Posted on 12/14/24 at 11:32 pm to
quote:

You say that, but there were plenty of Heisman winning QBs who never had much more than a cup of coffee in the NFL. Gino Torretta, Tory Smith, Jason White, Eric Crouch…


I meant not playing in the NFL by choice, but you are correct.
Posted by AlwysATgr
Member since Apr 2008
20130 posts
Posted on 12/14/24 at 11:40 pm to
quote:

t was more because he was undersized


That's what I recall as well.

Posted by Bench McElroy
Member since Nov 2009
34684 posts
Posted on 12/15/24 at 12:01 am to
One thing about Charlie Ward is that he weighed only 190 pounds. I remember reading a thread on Reddit a couple years ago about Bryce Young as a NFL draft prospect. There was this enormous debate about his weight. It's rare for a QB to enter the NFL weighing under 200 LBs and the ones that do weren't drafted very high and didn't do much in the NFL. It's hard to withstand punishment over the course of a NFL season with a frame that thin. Now imagine what it was like back in 1994 when defenders were actually allowed to hit QBs. Ward never would have been drafted very high or gotten much of a shot due to how undersized he was.
Posted by coolpapaboze
Parts Unknown
Member since Dec 2006
20707 posts
Posted on 12/15/24 at 8:32 am to
It's pretty amazing that the dude won the Heisman trophy and was a first round pick in the NBA draft and played 10+ years.
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