Former NFL running back and Super Bowl champion Derrick Ward has found himself in a bit of legal trouble after being arrested for alleged robberies.
Ward, aged 43, was arrested Monday in the North Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, on suspicion of robbery. Per NBC, Ward is alleged to have robbed “at least five businesses, including gas stations, Los Angeles police said.” However, it does not appear that he used a firearm to commit those crimes.
After his arrest Monday, as of Tuesday, Ward was still sitting in jail, held on a $250,000 bail. An ABC television report also noted that he’s “being charged with at least one felony.”
In his past life, Ward led a successful career on the football field, reaching the game’s highest level with eight seasons logged in the NFL, including some very memorable ones. Of course, the crowning team achievement Ward experienced came during the 2007-08 season with the New York Giants.
That year, Ward was part of a three-man running back rotation which earned the name “Earth, Wind and Fire” — respectively, Brandin Jacobs, Ward, and Ahmad Bradshaw. Unfortunately, that threesome lost its Wind as Derrick Ward broke a bone in his leg in early December that season and had to miss the rest of the year — where the plucky Giants would go on to knock off the undefeated Patriots in the ’08 Super Bowl.
That season was Ward’s fourth with New York, and he would return for one more in 2008-09, the best of his career, with just over 1,400 total yards from scrimmage and career-highs across the board. Following that season, he enjoyed stints with Tampa Bay and then Houston, ending his pro career with the Texans after the 2011 season.
Prior to his time as a pro, Ward completed a pretty interesting college career, beginning at Fresno State. He missed his true freshman season with academic issues but was shot out of a cannon as a redshirt freshman, earning Freshman All-American honors after posting 824 rushing yards and six touchdowns that season… and with a broken hand, too. No wonder he recorded zero catches.
After only six games played the next season, though, Ward was kicked off the team and found his next home at the NAIA level with Ottawa University… in Kansas. In his lone year there, Ward broke the NAIA single-season record with 2,061 rushing yards, 28 touchdowns and 7.8 yards per carry on 263 attempts. Such numbers got him drafted in the seventh round by the Jets before he would eventually begin his career with the other New York team.
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