Shown the Door

Ward leaping into the end zone after the
Steeler's trick play in Super Bowl XL.

It looks as if the 2012-13 NFL season with be the first in 14 years without Hines Ward in a Pittsburgh Steeler uniform.

According to multiple unnamed sources, the NFL Network has announced the Steelers do not plan on bringing back the veteran wideout for his 15th season. Ward, who is due $4 million in the final year of his contract, has played his entire career in Pittsburgh and epitomized the Steeler's blue-collar culture for the past decade and a half.

Ward has said numerous times he is willing to take a pay cut to remain with the only team he's ever known. But apparently that is not the problem with his productive diminishing each of the last two seasons.

The 35-year-old South Korean lost his starting job this season with the acquisition of Jerricho Cotchery. Ward caught 46 passes this season for 381 yards and two touchdowns, and with the offense heading a different direction, Ward's services may be no longer needed.

It was just two days ago Pittsburgh introduced former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley as their next offensive coordinator. The decision came after Bruce Arians' contract expired and was hired to fill the same position in Indianapolis. A move that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not approve of. So, not only will Roethlisberger be losing his offensive game caller, but his favorite target over the first eight years of his career.

Playing his college ball as a Georgia Bulldog, Ward was selected by the Steelers in the third-round in 1998 NFL Draft, becoming a staple in the Pittsburgh huddle.

Ward's best season came in 2002 when he set career-highs in receptions (112), yards (1,329), yards per game (83.1) and TDs (12). But his biggest accomplishment came in, at the time, the biggest game of his career.

In Super Bowl XL, Ward caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from fellow wide receiver Antwaan Randle El with 6:04 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Steelers a 21-10 lead and sealing the franchise's fifth championship victory, this time over the Seattle Seahawks.

Ward finished the game with five catches for 123 yards and that one score. With that performance, he was named the game's Most Valuable Player, becoming the fifth receiver to do so and only the second in Steeler history. Hall of Famer Lynn Swann was the first, capturing the award in 1976 for his dominance in Super Bowl X.

Not only will Ward go down as one of the greatest blocking receivers in NFL history, but his ability to stay on the field in the world's most physical sport will live in Pittsburgh lore.

Possessed with a certain grit and toughness about him, Ward played in all 16 of the team's regular season games 10 of his 14 years with the organization, and never playing less than 13.

If in fact Ward has played in last game in black and gold then he leaves behind a remarkable legacy. A one point in his career, Ward had a streak of 186 consecutive games with at least one reception. It was broken in 2010.

This past season, Ward became the 19th player in NFL history to tally more than 12,000 receiving yards and only the eighth player to caught 1,000 passes. He apparently finishes his Pittsburgh career with exactly 1,000 receptions, 12,083 yards and 85 TDs. That doesn't include his postseason statistics.

The four-time Pro Bowler played in 18 career postseason games, catching 88 passes for 1,181 yards and 10 TDs. His 88 receptions rank second behind only Jerry Rice's 151.

However, in his most recent playoff game and what could be in final game as a Steeler, Ward was ineffective, being targeted on two plays, but did not record a catch in Pittsburgh's 29-23 overtime lost to the Denver Broncos.

Following that loss it was reported by multiple media outlets that Ward was in fact ready to call it a career, but he set the record straight on his Facebook page.

"Let me set the record straight: I have no plans on retiring right now, Ward wrote. I want to win another Super Bowl. I don't know where the media is getting this info from but rest assured that when I decide to retire , you'll hear it from ME first."

While it may be clear Ward wants to continue playing, the Steelers no longer want him.

Mile High Miracle

Tebow has the Broncos one win away for the
AFC Championship game.

The magic is back.

Led by the best game in quarterback Tim Tebow's career, the Denver Broncos outlasted the defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers in a thrilling overtime matchup to wrap up Wild Card weekend in dramatic fashion.

After Denver scored 20-second quarter points and taking a 20-6 to lead into the locker room at the half, the Steelers responded like true champions do, scoring 10 points in the final ten minutes of regulation and knotted the game at 23 points apiece. The Pittsburgh defense forced only the fourth Bronco punt of the game, giving Ben Roethlisberger and Co. one last chance to seal an improbable comeback victory.

However, just when it look as if the Steelers offense was in position to kick a game-winning field goal and end Tebow's magical run, Denver defensive Elvis Dumervil got his hand on the football, forcing the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback to fumble and take them out of field goal range.

On the drive, Roethlisberger was sacked three times by the Denver defense, giving running back Willis McGahee, whose fourth quarter fumble led to the game-tying TD for Pittsburgh, a chance at redemption.

In the first non-sudden death overtime in NFL postseason history, McGahee wouldn't get that chance, letting Tebow and wideout Demaryius Thomas take care of the rest.

After winning the coin toss and electing to receive, the Bronco offense would take the field for the final time at Sports Authority Field this season. On the first play of extra period and for only the second time in the game, Tebow threw on first down, completing the pass to Thomas, who ran 80 yards to the end zone, sending everyone, including Hall of Famer John Elway, in Mile High into a frenzy.

Tebow "pulled the trigger" alright.

The play took 11 seconds, which marked the shortest overtime period in NFL history, regular season or postseason. Not to mention the fact it was also the longest TD pass in overtime history.

The 80-yard TD pass from Tebow was the longest of his young career and tied him with Elway for the longest TD pass in Bronco postseason history. Elway accomplished that feat twice in his career, each of them coming in a different decade.

Thomas finished the game with 4 catches for 204 yards and a TD. Dick LaBeau's defense hadn't allowed a 100-yard receiver all season long. Thomas totaled that many yards in the second quarter alone.

In now seven games this season, Tebow has throw and rushed for a TD. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Tebow is only the third quarterback in the Super Bowl era to throw for 300-plus yards without throwing an interception and record a rushing TD in a postseason game.

Completing only 10 passes, Tebow is the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to throw for 300 or more yards while completing that many passes or fewer in the playoffs.

Tebow also becomes the third quarterback in postseason history to score a rushing TD against the  storied and vaunted Steeler defense. The other two are Ken Stabler and the late Steve McNair.

Tebow averaged 31.6 yards a completion and completed three passes of 50 yards or more. Since the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, he becomes the first quarterback in postseason history to do so. Not only was Tebow's 316 passing yards a season-high, but a career-high, breaking one of Elway's franchise records, the most passing yards (123) in a playoff debut in franchise history.

Elway set that record in 1983 when his team lost 31-7 at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. However, in 1984, Elway's first postseason start, he lost to Pittsburgh, unlike Tebow.

Since the start of the quarterback rating era, beginning in 2008, the second-year quarterback's QBR of 97.3 on Sunday is the highest total in a playoff game, narrowly edging Aaron Rodgers' 97.2. A mark he set just a year ago in Green Bay's 48-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Thomas stiff arming Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor

on his 80-yard overtime TD reception.

It truly has been a magical run for this unselfish Denver team.

They are only the fifth team in NFL history to make the postseason after a 2-5 start. The Broncos are also only one of eight teams since the merger to reach the postseason after losing their final three games of the regular season, but now head to East in a rematch with the always dangerous New England Patriots.

New England is responsible for ending Denver's six-game winning streak this season when they visited Mile High in Week 15. There Tom Brady and Co. torched the Bronco secondary, 41-23.

In their franchise history, the Patriots hold an 11-3 record at home in the postseason, but two of those three loses have come in Foxborough the last two years. Former Bronco head coach Josh McDaniels, who was recently rehired by the Patriots to fill the offensive coordinator position that will be vacated by Bill O'Brien at season's end, is responsible for drafting both Tebow and Thomas.

In the NFL, Tebow, who is known as a devout Christian, he is unable to display his usual John 3:16 on his eye black, something he did often at Florida, but still finds away to spread the word. Oddly enough his passing yardage for the game totaled 316 and his yards per completion at 31.6.

Also worth noting, the four officials on the field in Denver Sunday bare the first names, John, Luke, Matthew and Mark, all names in the Bible. Coincidence? Maybe.

But if you're not a believer, you better start. God Bless.