Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward apologized Wednesday to teammate Ben Roethlisberger after questioning the Pittsburgh quarterback's toughness in a nationally televised interview Sunday night.
Ward called Roethlisberger on Monday to say he was not aware a team doctor advised Roethlisberger not to play because of lingering headaches resulting from a concussion. Roethlisberger said the two talked and put the misunderstanding behind them, the Associated Press reports.
"I apologized to the team today for even having to ask questions about this. That never was my intention," said Ward, who played wide receiver, tailback and quarterback for the University of Georgia from 1995-98. "I don't want it to be a distraction."
In the interview with NBC's Bob Costas, Ward said the locker room was divided as to whether Roethlisberger should've played Sunday in a pivotal AFC North match-up against the Baltimore Ravens.
"Ben practiced all week," Ward told Costas. "I've lied to a couple of doctors saying that you know, I'm straight, I feel good when I know I'm really not straight. I don't think guys really worry about the f uture when they're playing in the NFL."
Ward, who lives in Atlanta, is widely regarded as one the league's toughest players and most adept blockers, a reputation enhanced last season when he broke Bengals LB Keith Rivers' jaw with a block.
"When I go across the middle, those guys aren't going to tackle me softly and lay me down to the ground," Ward told Sports Illustrated last month after his peers voted him the league's dirtiest player. "That's not football. I find it ironic that now you see a receiver delivering blows, and it's an issue. But I haven't changed. I've been doing it this way for 11 years."
