Eric Ward (born July 24, 1990) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. Ward played at the college level for

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Early years

Ward played at the wide receiver position at S. H. Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Texas. Ward was rated a 4-star prospect by Rivals.com coming out of high school.

College career

2009-2010

Ward played at the college level for

where he redshirted his freshman season in 2009. In his redshirt freshman season in 2010, Ward played in 11 games and finished the season with 6 receptions for 63 yards.

2011

Ward broke out in his sophomore year in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, starting in 11 games. In the September 24, 2011 contest against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, Ward would catch the game winning

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

with 35 seconds left in the game to seal a victory. In the following week's game against

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, Ward's two touchdown receptions marked the first occasion that a Texas Tech receiver had caught multiple touchdowns in consecutive games since

Michael Crabtree Michael Alex Crabtree Jr. (born September 14, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, twi ...

in 2008. In the November 26, 2011 game against #18 Baylor at

AT&T Stadium AT&T Stadium is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic ...

, Ward broke the school record for single-game receptions with 16, coming two shy of the overall

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

record of 18. Ward would conclude the 2011 season leading the team with 84 receptions, 800 receiving yards, and 11 receiving touchdowns. For his performance, Ward was named All-Big 12 Conference 2nd Team by the ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1865. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the sta ...

'', ''

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Car ...

'', and the ''

Waco Tribune-Herald The ''Waco Tribune-Herald'' is an American daily newspaper serving Waco, Texas, and vicinity. Background The newspaper has its roots in five predecessors, beginning with the ''Waco Evening Telephone'' in 1892. The ''Tribune-Herald'' took its curr ...

''. He also earned an Academic All-Big 12 2nd team selection, in addition to an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection by the conference's coaches.

2012

Coming off of his successful 2011 season, Ward was named to the

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

watch list for the best receiver in the country. Additionally, he was selected as a pre-season All-Big 12 conference selection by

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

. In the second game of the season on September 15, 2012 against

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Ward would catch 3 touchdown passes in the first half becoming the first Red Raider to do so since Michael Crabtree in 2007. The New Mexico game also marked an NCAA record setting performance by quarterback

Seth Doege Seth Colton Doege (born December 18, 1988) is an American college football coach and former quarterback, who is the current offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Arizona Wildcats football, Arizona Wildcats. After playing college f ...

who threw for a 90.9 percent completion percentage. Against Iowa State, Ward first passed the 1,000 career receiving yards mark. Ward would go on to record three straight 100+ receiving yard games against Kansas, Texas, and Kansas State; again, the first Red Raider to do so since Michael Crabtree in 2007. Ward concluded his junior season fourth in school career receiving touchdowns, and joined

as the only players in school history to catch 11 or more touchdowns in back to back seasons. Ward would be named All-Big 12 Conference 1st Team by the ''San Antonio Express-News'' and 2nd Team by the

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

. Additionally, he was named an All-Big 12 Conference honorable mention selection by the league's coaches.

2013

Ward declined to enter the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

as an underclassman to return for his senior season to boost his stock as well as complete his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in human development and family studies. Prior to the season, Ward was named a preseason All-Big 12 1st Team selection by the Big 12 media and

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis incl ...

. Additionally, Ward was named again to the Biletnikoff Award watchlist as well as the inaugural

Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award is an award given annually to the "top offensive player in Division I football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, com ...

watchlist. Playing with true freshman quarterbacks

Davis Webb Davis Matthew Webb (born January 22, 1995) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He play ...

and

Baker Mayfield Baker Reagan Mayfield (born April 14, 1995) is an American professional football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma Sooners ...

, as well as Unanimous All-American

Jace Amaro Jace Jordan Amaro (born June 26, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, earning unanimous All-American honor ...

, Ward's offensive production would drop as Amaro was targeted more. Ward would accrue more than 100 yards in the season opener against SMU as well as games against Kansas, Kansas State, and Baylor. Ward completed his Texas Tech career by contributing to a 37-23 upset over #14

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

in the

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in San Diego, California. Operating since 1978, its current conference tie-ins are with the Pac-12 Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The bowl is held at Snapdragon S ...

. For his performance, Ward was named an All-Big 12 Conference 2nd Team selection by the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'', Big 12 Broadcasters, and

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and no ...

. Ward's career stats rank third in school career receptions at 255, third in career receiving touchdowns with 31, and fifth in career receiving yards with 2,863.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Ward would go undrafted in the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

before being signed as a free agent to the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. He was released on September 2, 2014 and was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals on January 1, 2015.

Personal life

Ward graduated Texas Tech with a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

degree in Special Education. He is married to his high school girlfriend and has five children, all boys.Tech’s Ward keeps mind on son
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Eric Living people 1990 births Players of American football from Wichita Falls, Texas American football wide receivers Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Tennessee Titans players Players of American football from Los Angeles