Texans safety Jimmie Ward delivers message at British International School of Houston: ‘Persevere through any adversity’

KATY – Two years before the San Francisco 49ers drafted Jimmie Ward in the first round, he distinguished himself at Northern Illinois with a stellar game against Florida State.

Ward did so with a heavy heart while recording a career-high 14 tackles in the Orange Bowl against the Seminoles.

His grandfather, stricken with cancer, was on his deathbed. Ward made the difficult choice to remain with his teammates, learning from his mother that his grandfather had passed away.

“I couldn’t be there with him because I had a very, very, very important game that probably helped set me up and my family up where I could take care of myself and them for life,” said Ward, who joined the Texans this offseason as a free agent via a two-year, $14.5 million contract. “I was in Miami fixing to play in the Orange Bowl. I’ll never forget it, a day before Christmas and that’s when my mom told me. They knew for a long time, but they didn’t want to tell me because I had a lot of stress going on dealing with my profession. On Christmas, the next day, they called me and told me he passed.

“And I couldn’t be there. I ended up having a good game, but it was bittersweet. I was born in Wisconsin and my granddad was a Packers fan. He was a Cheesehead. We used to watch Green Bay Packers games all the time and kung-fu movies and Western movies. He used to tell me, ‘You’re gong to be playing in he NFL one day.’ I was sad to me to not let him see that moment that I actually made my dreams come true and he wasn’t there to share it with me.”

Ward shared that message with students, teachers and parents at The British International School of Houston in Katy on Tuesday night, sharing his experiences and insight from playing in the NFL.

Ward, who intercepted seven passes in his final college season, is entering his 10th NFL season. He has recorded 451 career tackles, intercepting seven passes with five forced fumbles with three sacks.

“Basically, just try to persevere through any adversity they’re probably encountering in life and just know sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands and control your own life,” Ward told KPRC 2 of his motivational message to the school. “That’s part of the game when you play at this type of level in this profession you meet new brothers and a football team is really a family. You have people counting on you. Yes, my granddad would probably love for me to be there, but I had to sacrifice that the last couple of days he was on Earth to help my brothers win a game.”

Ward emphasized the importance of sacrifice, including his social life in college to concentrate on football and academics. It has paid off as he has forged a strong career with 106 career games and 79 starts.

“Partying,” Ward said. “We won a lot when I was in college, so I partied a lot. After every Saturday, it was a party. I had to give that up. I had to let my friends party for me. That was kind of hard, especially when I got to the league. That was probably the reason I was getting hurt.

“The second thing that I learned was what to put inside of me, what food to eat. I realized how important that was to keep your temple healthy, eat three different colors of food, a lot of fruit, a lot of vegetables and drink tons of water.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.