Sod Talk: The Legendary Charlie Ward

A short drive north on Thomasville Road will take you to a city where high school football reigns supreme. It’s a city where you can find three high school that boast more than impressive football teams. It’s a city where cross-town rivals are located on the same road, and separated by a little more than a mile. But when it comes to football, it’s a city that’s most notable for a football player named Charlie Ward that graduated from Thomas County Central High School.

Sod Talk: The Legendary Charlie Ward

One of the most decorated athletes of all time in Charlie Ward decided to take his football talents down the road to Florida State University where a career of success and accolades awaited him. Most notable among these triumphs were the Heisman trophy and Florida State’s first ever national championship.

Upon completing his collegiate career Ward decided to make the transition to the NBA where he finished his career with 3,947 points, 2,539 assists, and 776 steals after a 12 year tenure.

Given this more than impressive résumé it is easy to see why masses of FSU fans swarmed the Sod Cemetery on Saturday to hear the former Seminole talk.

An interesting change was made this week in light of the largest crowd that Sod Talk has ever seen. Charlie Ward broke with tradition and stood outside of the Sod Cemetery where he was surrounded by fans that could all get a better view of him that way.

With droves of even more fans gradually being drawn in by the already impressive crowd that surrounded Ward he was first asked about why he decided to attend Florida State University.

To this Ward enlightened the crowd by telling them about his strong opinion of coach Bobby Bowden.

"“One of the main reasons was being able to play for coach Bobby Bowden…I had the opportunity to be a part of his program here at Florida State. He was a great man of God. My parents trusted him. I trusted him.”"

The understatement of the day then followed as it was said in jest almost that FSU fans were thankful that Charlie Ward decided to go to Florida State.

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Among the more notable players that Charlie Ward had the pleasure of being teammates with was Warrick Dunn who Ward also became roommates with during Ward’s senior season. At the time Dunn was a freshman that was just becoming familiar with the ins-and-outs of Florida State.

Ward was quick to point out that Doug Williams played a large role in the two becoming roommates. Following this Ward gave further explanation on his relationship with Dunn.

"“That year was a very good year for both of us because we had an opportunity to sit in the room and talk. We were homebodies. We were very similar. He was the one that was most inspirational in us beating Florida.”"

What Florida State event is complete without a radio call by the one and only Gene Deckerhoff?

That said, many FSU fans embraced a slight moment of nostalgia as the touchdown by Dunn that went down in FSU history was played over the Sod Cemetery speakers.

(ABOVE: Quarterback Charlie Ward’s touchdown pass to Warrick Dunn that changed momentum against Florida in 1993)

On this 1993 victory Ward reminded fans that the Gators were in the midst of a 23-game home winning streak at the time. He would also go on to recount exactly how loud it was that day as Florida fans made sure that Ward and company were not comfortable on offense.

Despite the adversity the ‘Noles went on the beat the Gators by double digits. On this Ward said the following with a slight smirk.

“Of course that was a great day for Seminoles as we cut off the Gator’s tail. We shut their mouths a little bit…anyways.”

Transitioning to one of the final topics of the day, Charlie Ward was asked about what he saw in Jameis Winston as a quarterback.

"“He hasn’t lost since he started playing. He’s very competitive. He wanted to play me in basketball in the backyard. I’ll get him one today. He’s brought us back time and time again. He’s been very encouraging on the field.”"

Charlie concluded this thought going on to suggest that Winston doesn’t get enough credit for all of the positive things he does off the field in comparison to the negative things that are held against Winston. Ward points out that part of this has to do with winning the Heisman. Ward disagrees with the train of thought that swirled around in recent months suggesting that Winston won’t listen to advice. Ward vouched for the young quarterback saying, “He will listen. He’s made great strides in doing the right thing.”

The final Sod Talk of the 2014 season concluded with fans meeting the legendary Charlie Ward as countless people swarmed the former Seminole for autographs and pictures.

The ‘Noles play Georgia Tech next in the Dr. Pepper ACC Football Championship Game in North Carolina where the potential to take a piece of sod back to Tallahassee may just be.

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