Jon Finkel - The Athlete: Greatness, Grace and the Unprecedented Life of Charlie Ward

The Athlete

Greatness, Grace and the Unprecedented Life of Charlie Ward

Jon Finkel

Copyright 2017 by Jon Finkel

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by JF Publishing.

Presented by:
The National Football Foundation & College Football
Hall of Fame

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to info@jonfinkel.com

www.jonfinkel.com

ISBN: 978-0-9986273-2-8 (Hardcover)

978-0-9986273-3-5 (Paperback)

Book Design by: Clark Kenyon

Cover Design by: Kinsey Stewart

Florida State Football Photo: Ryals Lee

New York Knicks Photo: Dave Saffran/MSG Photos

First Edition

To Reese and Grant,

May you both live your own unprecedented and unparalleled lives.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Meet the Wards

Senior

He Just Had It

Neighborhood Legend

The Phenom

A Brief Pause Before Greatness

Starting Quarterback

A Brief Basketball Interlude

Exceeding the Hype

The Recruit

Tallahassee Community College

The Punter

To Redshirt, Or Not To Redshirt

Back to Basketball

Welcome to the ACC

Almost Famous

QB1

Charlie Ward 2.0

Being Elite

Superstardom

The Heisman Trophy

National Champions

The NFL or the NBA?

Welcome to New York

The Back-Up

The Veteran

1999 and Beyond

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Other Books By Jon Finkel

Prologue

Charlie Wards 1993 Heisman Trophy isnt displayed in a glitzy case at Doak Campbell Stadium on the campus of Florida State University. Its also not in the schools hall of fame building like Gino Torrettas at the University of Miami, or at his parents house like fellow Heisman winners Cam Newton, Mark Ingram, Tim Tebow and a slew of others. Its not even in his own house like Sam Bradfords or Matt Leinarts or Andre Wares awards. And its certainly not in a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant like Ron Daynes.

No, Charlie Wards Heisman Trophy is in one of the most unlikely, unsuspecting places you would ever expect an award of its magnitude to be. If youre imagining a location like the Downtown Athletic Club in lower Manhattan, where the award originated, or the Broadway address in New York City where the award is currently presented, think again. Even if you think of the complete opposite type of venue, you probably still wont be getting warmer to his Heismans permanent home.

Once you begin studying Charlie and the Ward family, however, and you get to know them and talk to them, you quickly understand that the chosen location of Charlies Heisman is the most Charlie thing ever, or rather, the most Junior thing ever. (In Wards hometown of Thomasville, Georgia, the name Charlie refers to his father, Charlie Ward Sr., while the Charlie Ward of national championship, New York Knicks and Heisman Trophy fame, and the most famous resident in the towns 192-year history, simply goes by Junior.)

If youre now guessing that Charlies Heisman is in Georgia, youre getting warmer.

Most of the 35-mile road from Tallahassee International Airport to Thomasville is lined with centuries-old oak trees standing guard along the highway, with thick, outstretched limbs flexing toward the sky. The branches themselves are the size of small trees, with bushy, white-green beards of Spanish moss tumbling toward the ground. Halfway through the trip you cross the state line from Florida to Georgia and are greeted by this sign:

Welcome. Were glad Georgias on your mind.

Its a nice sentiment, but one that you can imagine a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old Charlie Ward viewing in 1989 as a subtle recruiting nudge from his home state.

The ratio of pick-up trucks to cars on this stretch of US-319 is easily two-to-one, and road signs tout a rotating selection of churches and plantations with names like Pebble Hill and Longpine. About fifteen minutes before you reach Thomasville, you pass Sinkola Plantation, where Charlie Ward Sr. was born on July 20th, 1939 in whats known as the Red Hills Region of Georgia. In contrast to the heavy, thick oaks on the highway, Sinkola is populated by thousands of pine trees that jut out of the ground and spike the sky.

The last stretch of 319 leads directly into the heart of Thomasvilles downtown area, North Broad Street. Local, southern restaurants sit on either side of the red-brick road. Jonahs Fish & Grits. Savannah Moon Bakery and Caf. Grassroots Coffee. Chophouse on the Bricks. The avenue is so perfectly Anytown, USA that it was actually honored by the National Trust Main Street Center as being an official Great American Main Street.

Past the independent bookstore and clothing store and drug store, Broad Street hits Jefferson and the municipal part of town. Theres the Thomasville National Bank, the Thomas County Tax Collectors Office (with its own clock tower and bells), the First Baptist Church (which takes up a whole city block), and slightly to the southwest, the Thomas County Public Library.

Your search for the Heisman Trophy is warming up.

The entryway to the Thomas County Public Library holds no surprises and the design of the interior is standard-issue: beige floors, brown-paneled registration desk, wood-backed and cloth-cushioned reading chairs, metal book shelves, newspaper and magazine racksits all there as it should be, with no pedestals or spotlights showcasing the most prestigious award in college football.

Off to the right, beyond a small reading area, sits rows of fiction, non-fiction and reference book shelves lined up like dominos in the classic library layout. Theres a fairly comprehensive sports book and sports reference section by the windows, including the hard-to-find 1984 classic, The Heisman: A Symbol of Excellence by John T. Brady, which documents the life of John W. Heisman (who the award is named after), the history of the award and its first fifty or so winners.

The book is filled with photos of Heisman winners sharing the spotlight with icons like John Wayne and presidents like John F. Kennedy. It features photos of ticket stubs, old programs and former emcees of the award presentation. It tells you everything you need to know, really, but a substitute for laying eyes on an actual Heisman Trophy it is not.

As you make your way back to the registration desk, you realize theres only one other room in the library you havent been to, so thats where you head, toward the giant, multi-colored sign that reads in comic-sans font: children.

The trophy cant be in there, can it? In the kids room?

This is the trophy of Bo Jackson and Barry Sanders; Herschel Walker and Archie Griffin (twice) and Roger Staubach and the Old Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier. Davey OBrien and Danny Wuerffel won the award and now have their own awards named after them.

Is THE Heisman Trophy really in the childrens reading room of a public library in a small Georgia town?

Yes, yes it is.

Just beyond a row of kids computer stations, a small play area, the story room and a round wooden table, and sitting right next to a windowsill of stuffed zoo animals, is a five-foot-tall display case featuring Charlie Wards Heisman Trophy, a framed picture of him holding the award, a jersey, and, if you look closely, a New York Knicks basketball card for good measure.

Far from the cottage industry of books written by Wards coach at Florida State, Bobby Bowden, that reside across the library in the aforementioned sports section, Wards display case sits three feet from well-read copies of Giraffes Cant Dance, Hannah and the Seven Dresses and books about a far more popular Bobby with this demographic, Bob the Builder.

A framed white piece of paper that lists all of Charlies accomplishments in his final year at Florida State sits on top of the display case. Its printed in about 10-point type to fit everything on a single page: Heisman Winner, AAU Sullivan Award Winner, Davey OBrien Award Winner, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Winner, Walter Camp Player of the Year, Chevrolet Offensive Player of the Year, Scripps Howard Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, Toyota Leader of the Year, The Sporting News Player of the Year, UPI Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year and the Football News Offensive Player of the Year.