Charvarius Ward cried when the Dallas Cowboys traded him. Now he’s in the Super Bowl
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward is a self-proclaimed momma’s boy. He says that proudly and unabashedly.
But when he admittedly cried when he got traded from the Dallas Cowboys to Chiefs before the 2018 preseason finale, it had nothing to do with his maternal bond.
The then-undrafted rookie from Middle Tennessee — whose unlikely journey to starting in Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday includes not being able walk on his own for two years growing up and not playing football until his senior year in high school — thought his dream of playing in the NFL was dead.
“I was getting dressed for the game about to go out for warm ups,” Ward recalled the fateful day vividly. [Secondary coach Kris] Richard came and got me. He took me to the office with coach Jason Garrett. He was like ‘you got a lot of talent ... you have been playing well lately. You have been showing us a lot of your abilities but we gotta make some moves, we are going to trade you to the Kansas City Chiefs.’ That is how it went.”
Tears began to well up in Ward’s eyes and then they streamed down his face.
“I was shocked. I started crying at first,” Ward said. “I started crying because I didn’t know if I was going to make the team in Kansas City. Pre-season was over and training camp was over. I was wondering. I didn’t know.”
Ward’s mind was put at ease when he got on the phone with Chiefs general manager Brett Veach, who assured him he would make the team in Kansas City as long as he passed his physical.
That was the easy part, given that Ward was challenging for a roster spot on a what was perceived then as deep rotation at cornerback in Dallas.
He was big, fast and physical.
After opening the season on special teams, Ward moved into the starting lineup for the final six games. He almost became a Chiefs legend a year ago when he intercepted a pass from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the fourth quarter to seemingly seal a victory in the AFC championship game and send Kansas City to the Super Bowl.
But an off-sides penalty nullified the play and the Patriots went on to win the game and the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs made it to Super Bowl LIV, ending a 50-year drought, with Ward starting all 18 games and playing a key role.
Now the Cowboys are the one’s who should be crying.
With Byron Jones set to be a free agent and likely leaving for a bigger payday elsewhere, Ward has had better production over the last two years and a more promising future than any other cornerback left on the Cowboys roster.
Yet, they traded him away for guard Parker Ehinger, who suffered a knee injury just days after coming to Dallas. He was placed on injured reserve and released following the season.
“It’s a dream come true, starting in the Super Bowl for the Chiefs,” Ward said. “I never would have expected it in my second season. I trusted the process, I am here where I want to be.”
His mother Tonya Ward will be in attendance at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami along with several other family members, still about Ward’s unlikely career path.
“To see where he came from to where he is now is amazing,” Tanya Ward told the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal. “He wasn’t one of those kids who had played football his entire life. People always say ‘I know you’re proud of him’ and I am, but football is just a bonus. I’m proud of the kid because he grew up in the ghetto, not having a lot but he would always try to do right. He did well in school, never got in trouble and then football came later on in his life.
“Once he got in his head that he wanted to play football, he let nothing stop him from playing. It’s honestly amazing.”
Amazing is one way to describe Ward’s journey from McComb, Miss., to the Super Bowl in Miami.
There was a time the only places Ward wanted to be were at home on the couch with his momma or in his momma’s lap.
“I was a big momma’s boy, I didn’t want to leave the house,” Ward said. “I played a little in junior high but it was just for a couple of games. The coaches were always begging me to come play because I was one of the biggest, fastest kids, tallest guys in school. They saw the potential in me. I was just always under my momma at the crib. I didn’t want to leave the house.”
Ward grew close to his momma because of a cyst on his hip bone in grade school that the doctors initially thought was cancerous. He had to undergo surgery to have it removed. A plate and screw were inserted into his leg. He needs to use a wheelchair for six months. He was on crutches for almost two years during second and third grade.
“She had to help me do everything, take a bath,” Ward said. “And when I used the bathroom she had to help me get up off the toilet. She had to carry me to the car, put me in the car. I couldn’t do anything for myself. We became super close at that moment and we have been close since then. My dad has been in prison for a long time. It’s just been me, my brothers and sisters and my momma. I had no choice but to be tight with her.”
That is part of the reason Ward didn’t play football much as a child but he said he always loved the game and watched it tirelessly on television from the couch with his momma.
After being an instant standout as a senior, he got a scholarship to Hinds Community College and then went to Middle Tennessee State, officially putting his football journey on the map.
“Now I am in the Super Bowl,” Ward said. “It’s a dream come true. I am the chosen one. God had a plan for me. It came to fruition.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 1:46 PM.
