Humility is one. Having character and integrity. Being honest. Having a work ethic is another one. Having perseverance to make decisions and live with your decisions. Every choice has a consequence whether it is positive or negative. Those are the things that we are looking to instill into our kids. – Charlie Ward
Art Eddy: Let’s first talk about the book, The Athlete: Greatness, Grace and the Unprecedented Life of Charlie Ward. You teamed up with author Jon Finkel for this book. What was your first impression when you heard about this book’s concept?
Charlie Ward: We went around and around on how we were going to make it happen. I was trying to write a book and share my life story for a few years now. When Jon brought this idea to me through the National Football Foundation I thought it was a very good way to get my story out there.
I am grateful that Jon took on this project. He is a very dynamic writer. He wrote the Mean Joe Greene biography. That has done well. It was a blessing that he approached us about the book. The outcome has been very good. Getting to know Jon a little bit and he has done a lot of research. My wife and I are impressed by his writing style. We are very grateful.
AE: What do you hope people take away from reading your book?
CW: Perseverance, humility are attributes that you need to be successful. Trusting in God that regardless of any situation that you have been put in and the challenges that you have been faced with know that God’s hand is over it. When I look back at my life all of challenges and successes that I have had is part of God’s plan.
In the moment a lot of the times we miss what God is trying to share with us because we are caught up in the moment. In order for us to be successful long term we just have to know what we are going up against. Know our enemy. Know the challenges that we may face. When those challenges do happen we have to be prepared mentally to fight through. A lot of that is captured and is evident in that book especially in high school and college. The challenges from a physical and mental standpoint of getting on the field, waiting for my time, being patient. All of it worked out three years later. In college I got to play for a National Championship and win the Heisman and all of those types of things. You never know. You just have to put yourself in the right situation and position for you to receive what God has for you. When the door opens you have to be willing to walk through.
AE: Were there topics that you were nervous to discuss in the book?
CW: I thought Jon did a great job of capturing the highs and the lows. We all have them. It helps show how I got to where I am today. Whether it was professionally, spiritually or whatever the case may be. I thought he did a good job of capturing enough of my challenges throughout my life to be able to share with people that it is not all glitz and glory. The outcomes may have looked good, but there were some hardships. There were times where I had to persevere through tough situations. I had to make tough choices, but trust that God had a plan moving forward. I had to roll with the punches whatever those punches were. I learned from them and I think the book has captured that really well.
AE: You won many awards in your college days. You won the most prestigious award in college football in receiving the Heisman Trophy. You were not drafted by an NFL team. What were your initial thoughts and how much did that motivate you to still break into the world of professional sports?
CW: It all started with my commitment to my basketball team. I chose to come back my senior year to play basketball. I was a senior leader for the basketball team. During this time, I also stumbled upon a list of online casinos available in Malaysia, which piqued my interest in exploring new hobbies. It also gave me the chance to play football or basketball professionally. When I made that decision to go out and play basketball, that was part of the reason that I wasn’t chosen. I had to make a commitment to go to the NFL combine that year. I did end up working out for a lot of the teams on campus.
I knew regardless if I went to the combine or not I was still going to be drafted in the third or fourth round. I knew that I wouldn’t likely to be able to improve upon that. I just knew going in that I would have been a third or fourth round pick. I made a decision to play basketball and finish my senior year.
It wasn’t disheartening because I did a lot of work preparing for the NBA draft. I was getting a lot of opportunities to showcase my talent. During that time I went overseas on the Nike tournament. The challenge and disheartening feeling of not getting drafted in the NFL was something that I had already thought about. If it happened how would I respond? My response to that was that I was going to go and put more time into the NBA draft.
AE: You coach high school football. What motivated you to coach at the high school level instead of the college and professional level?
CW: I played in the NBA for 11 years. Then I had the opportunity to coach for two years. Those 13 years in the NBA were great. I enjoyed it. It was part of who I was. Even to this day I am grateful that I was able to be in the NBA for that long. Not that many guys get to have that opportunity. When it was time for me to retire from basketball and leave the pro level I chose a profession and an opportunity to give me a more flexible schedule.
That flexible schedule was something that I desired more than making more money, traveling all the time, which I just got done doing in the NBA. College would afford you to make more than you would in high school. It gives you the chance to travel and recruit and do those types of things.
I chose to go the high school route. It has been a great blessing for me. I have had the opportunity to coach high school kids and being able to mold minds and help them understand what is out there. Talk about the opportunities that they might have. It has been a true blessing to be able to help young people. I have been doing it for almost ten years now.
AE: What popped into your mind when you found out that you were going to be a father for the first time?
CW: It was definitely a great blessing. I was in training camp when my wife sent me a note and a picture that we were expecting. I was elated. We didn’t find out whether it was a boy or a girl. It was going to be a challenge. We had never been parents. Kids come with no guide. It is just a matter of getting in there and working it out.
I grew up with siblings that were younger than me. I had to learn how to change diapers and do all those types of things and take care of my younger siblings. So there was some experience, but this is your child. This is your flesh and blood that you will be taking care of. We had challenges, but it was exciting because it was our first child.
My wife is great. She has done a lot. She sacrificed a lot for our family from a career standpoint and time wise. I am grateful to be a partner with her. The guide was talk to other people. Find out what they did and how they do it. We just learned by speaking to others. We made some mistakes, but we figured it out. We learned how to put them down at night when they are going through withdrawal from you or if they were sick.
Since that time we have a 17 year old son, a 14 year old daughter, and a son we adopted seven years ago. We are still going at it and still learning different strategies on how to help them as they develop in their different stages.
AE: What are some of the core values you looked to instill into your kids as they were growing up?
CW: Humility is one. Having character and integrity. Being honest. Having a work ethic is another one. Having perseverance to make decisions and live with your decisions. Every choice has a consequence whether it is positive or negative. Those are the things that we are looking to instill into our kids.
They are going to make bad decisions like we all do from time to time. We just don’t want them to be a costly one. They don’t think through their environment, their friends and have consequences that may hurt them long term. Whether it is on the internet or they are doing something inappropriate. We have been able to help them work through those challenges as they grow up. It goes a long way to the success that you have. Having integrity. Being honest. Those things will help you long term.
AE: You and your wife are advocates of adoption for those families who are thinking of adoptions what would you tell them?
CW: We were thinking about international adoption, but we ended up with a domestic adoption. We were looking at the Haiti situation a while back when they were having one of their earthquakes. We were thinking about doing an adoption at that time.
We had room to help a young person. Give them a safe environment and a safe home and two loving parents. We wanted to be role models and help a kid out. We decided on a son. We wanted to help raise another young man to grow up and be more like Christ.
That was our ultimate goal for adoption. When you have an opportunity to help someone that is going through challenges we found that it is not easy. When you have different challenges with the kids what it has done for us is bring us closer together especially in husband and wife. We have to communicatehow we are going to raise a child that is not our blood. They come in with baggage and different challenges. We have to love them regardless just as if they were our flesh and blood. We made the choice to make this a reality. No matter what we are going to love them. It also helps us to see how Christ loves us. His father made us. He died on the cross for our sins. He didn’t know us. I am grateful that we have the opportunity to be able to share the love of Christ with someone else.
AE: What is the one biggest piece of advice you have for new dads?
CW: Most dads have jobs. One thing I would say is to make time to be there for them. I know for me I was on the road a lot. I was doing things when I was home and there were some things that I had to learn. When it is your turn to get up at night you make it happen. You have to put yourself in your shoes if that is the situation.
For me that was the situation. I was home. Some dads may not be at home. If they are not at home you will need to spend quality time with your kids. Be there for them at school. Show up for lunch. Do the little things to be part of their lives.
AE: Do you guys have a favorite family movie that you all love to watch together?
CW: The last movie we just saw was Wonder Woman.
AE: Do you guys have a favorite song that you all like to sing to or dance to as a family?
CW: We like Christian music.
AE: Describe the perfect family vacation.
CW: We went to an orphanage in Ensenada, Mexico. That would probably be the perfect vacation for a family. To be able to serve kids that were in the orphanage.
AE: Favorite kicks to play in during your NBA days was….
CW: Most of my career was played in Nikes.
AE: What was going on in your mind when you and your Florida State teammates won the 1993 National Championship in college football?
CW: It was the first time we won a National Championship at Florida State. I thought about all the time that we spent together as a group. To have the opportunity to celebrate at the end of the year as the top team was the ultimate goal that we all set out for. It was something that you dream about, think about and prepare for. When it actually happens you are excited to celebrate with your teammates. At that time you don’t know that lasting impression that it would have, but you know that everyone is tied together.
About Charlie Ward
It takes a once-in-a-generation athlete to win a national championship as a quarterback for Florida State, reach the Sweet Sixteen three times as a point guard for his school, and then go on to become a starting guard for the New York Knicks in an NBA Finals. Yes, Charlie Ward’s athletic accomplishments truly know no peer. Combine a twelve-year NBA career with a College Football Hall of Fame career and the portrait of a humble, magnanimous leader takes shape.
In the book, The Athlete written by Jon Finkel we get the first definitive biography of Charlie Ward. Culled from hundreds of articles, clippings, books and original interviews with those who know Charlie best, this story begins with a foundation of college athletic excellence laid down by his father. From there, Jon Finkel traces Ward’s background from small-town Thomasville, Georgia to football-crazed Tallahassee to basketball Mecca Madison Square Garden in New York City. Ward’s remarkable journey includes staggering setbacks–from a near career-ending leg injury in high school, to academic obstacles prior to attending Florida State, to not being drafted by an NFL team after winning the Heisman Trophy. Through it all, Charlie’s calm demeanor, high character and unshakeable faith buoyed his belief that be it basketball or football, grades or career, he was going to succeed and set a strong example along the way.
As electrifying as Charlie Ward’s highlight reel, The Athlete is a towering sports biography, epic in scope and triumphant in its portrayal of one of the greatest modern athletes the world has ever seen.
Go to charliewardwebsite.com for more on Charlie and follow him on Twitter at @cward2117 and pick up his book, The Athlete: Greatness, Grace and the Unprecedented Life of Charlie Ward wherever books are sold. For more on Jon Finkel go to his website at www.jonfinkel.com.