CANTON'S WARD EXCITED TO BE A PART OF RUTGERS' FOOTBALL TEAM (2022-01-28)

BY BRIAN FEES
Northern Tier Sports Report
It would have been very easy for Timmy Ward to just settle for something easier.

He could have grabbed an opportunity to play at East Stroudsburg and headed there to continue his football career.

But, Ward has never been about taking the easier path. The Canton graduate has always overcome adversity and challenges, and he had a dream, a dream that he was determined to make come true.

Ever since Ward was little he dreamt of getting a chance to play Division I football.

His junior year he was getting looks by a number of big schools, but then came the cancer diagnosis. And, even after he came back from cancer he was getting some looks, but then came the torn ACL.

Now, Ward knew nothing was going to be guaranteed. He would not have a preferred walk-on spot, he wouldn’t have a guaranteed spot on the roster, he’d have to come and he’d have to compete.

And, that’s exactly what the former Canton star did.

He passed on opportunities that might have been easier, and he headed to Rutgers. He spent a year serving as a team manager, and he tried out for the team. And, now, Ward is on the roster of a Big 10 school.

“Definitely, there were times I was kind of at nights laying in bed thinking about everything,” Ward said. “Thinking, dang, how am I going to figure this out. How am I going to claw my way out of this. It’s very easy to say heck with it and go to college and be a normal student and just give up on everything. Or, just go play at East Stroudsburg where I had an opportunity to play.

“There could have been a few different decisions I could have made to be like all right, I’ll settle with this. That wasn’t my dream. That wasn’t what I ever wanted to do. I wanted to give D1 a shot. If it wasn’t for me, it wasn’t for me, but I wanted to at least try and see what happens.”

THE TOUGHER PATH

Ward knows that East Stroudsburg is a good football program. The PSAC school is coached by former Division II star Jimmy Terwilliger, and Ward knows he would have been happy to have a chance to play there.

The thing is, Ward always had that Division I dream. And, even though cancer and his torn ACL had the dream seem like it was slipping away, Ward decided to bet on himself.

“That was a big gamble,” Ward said. “I really didn’t take too much time to think about it. My parents, I had mentioned to them here is what coach (Rob) Hinson (a player personnel analyst at Rutgers) had offered me. I could be a student manager, or I could go to East Stroudsburg and played football.

“If I had had gone to ESU I’m sure I’d be happy there. Coach Terwilliger has a good program going right now. I really just wanted to pursue my dream. It wasn’t that hard of a decision for me to just say I’m going to Rugers and I’m not sure what my future holds.”

It wasn’t that long ago that Ward thought the path to Division I football was going to be a little different.

His junior year he was making college visits, including places like Cincinnati, which was in the College Football Playoff this year.

He was talking to a lot of coaches, and then came the cancer diagnosis.

While, a lot has changed over the past few years, he always felt like he was the player that was taking those visits.

“Just knowing I had the athletic ability to play at that level,” Ward said. “To know coaches around the country saw that I could be at that level, it gave a lot of confidence to be all right this is something I could do. I could pursue it. It was definitely a big confidence booster.

“I was taking visits and people were noticing me and I was getting text messages, once everything went down after that I still had that fire in me. I know I can do this, I just have to keep grinding and working and do my best to put myself in the best position to succeed.”

Even after beating cancer, it looked like the path might be a bit easier as Rutgers had mentioned the idea of a preferred walk-on spot. But, then came the ACL injury.

“I was in contact with coach Hinson and there was a chance I would get maybe a preferred walk on before my senior season,” Ward said. “They wanted to see how my season went, because my last film was from 2018, so they needed to see something from me recent enough to know I was back and good.

“Then, I got hurt and they were like we have this guy, this guy and this guy, if you really want to come here you can come be a student manager and rehab your knee and when you are ready go and try out and see what happens.”

Essentially, what Ward did was he bet on himself.

He knew there were no guarantees. He knew going to Rutgers was the harder path to get back on the football field. But, he bet on his chance to come back from the injury and make the team.

“Obviously, I’m sure there are people out there who don’t think I should be playing here,” Ward said. “Whether they think I don’t have what it takes, or they think someone else deserves it more. Taking this route had to be on myself, and I believe I can do this no matter what. I trust in my work ethic and I hit it head on and worked as hard as I can.”

REHAB WITH HIS SISTER

Right when Ward thought everything was on track, an injury in a scrimmage changed everything.

Ward had beaten cancer. He returned to wrestling and had a strong season, making it to states. He played baseball in the spring and was ready for a big final year of football.

Then came the injury that changed everything.

Ward was able to come back, play in the season opener on the torn ACL, but eventually he had to get surgery and start the recovery process.

“It was very difficult,” Ward said. “Once everything had happened I had to gather my thoughts and figure out what my next step was going to be. The day after my surgery my sister and I started rehab. I got at it and took it one day at a time. Some days it wasn’t really fun, but obviously my family and my sister kept me strict with everything and made sure I did what I needed to do to put myself in the best position to get through it.”

One thing that made things a bit easier for Ward was doing the rehab with his sister Kayla (Ward) Wright, who was Canton’s athletic trainer.

“It was pretty convenient to have my sister able to do my rehab for me,” Ward said. “Then, we wouldn’t have to go to Williamsport and drive everyday and do that rehab. It was convenient to go to the high school where my sister was working at the time and do rehab there. She definitely kept me in my place. She made sure I knew I needed to do it or else, it was pretty special being able to do that.”

While Timmy is her brother, Kayla has never seen a person work as hard as he did to come back from an injury.

“Recovery after ACL surgery is really intense, both mentally and physically,” Kayla said. “But, he’s the hardest worker I know. When I was his AT (athletic trainer), he was in my office almost every single day doing his rehab, and if he wasn’t in the office, he came to my house. Then after his rehab, he would go to the gym to workout some more and then he’d go to his team’s practice and do what he could there to. More often than not, I had to make sure he wasn’t over doing it because he just had tunnel vision for getting to where he wanted to be.”

Spending this time with her brother, and being a part off is recovery is something special for Kayla.

“Early on we joked about it being too much sibling bonding time, but I’m really grateful that we got to spend that time together and I got to be a part of his journey in more than one way,” Kayla said. “It’s always rewarding to see an athlete I’ve worked with return to their sport after and injury, but I’ll never forget the feeling of watching my little brother, whose also my athlete, return to competition, after witnessing firsthand all the work he put in to get there.”

Being Timmy’s sister helped Kayla know how to to best work with him during his recovery.

“It was really special getting to be the one who worked with him on his ACL rehab and recovery,” Kayla said. “We learned a lot together throughout the whole process. Since he’s my brother, I knew when he needed pushed a little harder and when he needed reigned back in, so I think that helped us have a really good dynamic.”

When school started up Ward did his rehab himself at the gym at school.

“Once school started up I was on my own at the gym here doing all my exercises that she had for me,” Ward said. “I was pretty much on my own to get at it and keep strengthening my leg.”

LEARNING BY WATCHING

This fall was tough for Ward.

He was so close to the Rutgers football team as a manager, but he wasn’t doing what he loved and playing in games.

As hard as it was, this is something Ward has gotten used to, as he spent his senior year watching Canton play, and helping the high school coaching staff.

“It’s nothing new to me,” Ward said. “In high school I had to be on the sideline and help where I could and help my friends. It’s nothing new to be on the sideline and have to observe from there.”

When the injury happened in high school Kayla watched as her brother still worked hard every day, and still came to practice with the team every day.

“After his injury, when he knew his season was over, he still practiced every single day up until his surgery,” Kayla said. “Then, after his surgery, he was still at practice every day and handing out water and pep talks on the sidelines to his teammates.

“Nobody was telling him to do those things, it’s just the type of person that he is. I think all of those little things he did, led him to being in the position that he’s in now. As impressive as it is, I’m not at all surprised.”

Timmy tried to take the time this fall to learn everything he could.

“I learned a lot just in this last season being able to watch and be on the sidelines and see and pick up little things,” Ward said. “I definitely learned a lot and it helped getting to know the coaches, get my face and name out there to them as well. That kind of helped as well, showing my work ethic to everyone in the program.

“The people I met along the way during the time period are people I will always be in contact with and friends with as long as I’m alive. I made a lot of good relationships and it definitely helped being able to be there and being acclimated to college football by watching everything.”

Now that Ward is on the roster, he already knows some of his teammates from his time as a manager.

“I didn’t get to know them all very well, but obviously I got to meet the player. During practices and stuff I’d be around them and be able to talk to them and joke around with them and now that I’m their teammate it was kind of cool to see how they were excited and happy when they found out I was on the team.”

READY TO GO FOR RUTGERS

Ward, who played both receiver and defensive back in high school, is going to be a receiver for Rutgers.

While he is on offense, he made sure when he was talking to the coaches that they knew he was willing to do anything they needed of him.

“I definitely made sure they knew I could play whatever side of the ball they want,” Ward said. “I’m not afraid to play special teams too, I’m not afraid to be on the field anywhere. I’ll play anything, I don’t care, I just want to play football.”

Ward knows a lot of people helped him get to this point, and he’s happy to get a chance to now be on the Rutgers roster.

“To finally get to experience this, it’s something I’ve been waiting for a long time,” Ward said. “It will be special. Obviously right now, I have a lot of people to thank for getting me here, and not giving up on my. My sister for doing my knee rehab, my doctor for doing my knee surgery. The whole Canton community, the NTL and District 4. When I was down they were being positive, being great people to me even though most didn’t know me. They just wanted to help any way I could. It’s definitely going to be special if I get an opportunity to step on the field on Saturday.”

Ward knows that a lot of people in the area will be behind him if he gets on the field for Rutgers.

“I am sure there will be a lot of people if they know I’ll be playing, that will be turning into the game, or making the trip to New Jersey,” Ward said. “I definitely have a big group of people behind me that want to see me succeed.”

Finding out he made the roster was a bit of a late Christmas present for Ward.

“I was sitting in the living room with my family at home a week and a half ago, and I was just sitting there and I got a text saying they were offering me a roster spot,” Ward said. “At first I didn’t really believe it.

“I had said, ‘oh, my gosh,’ and my mom instantly thought something was wrong and I said, ‘no, no, I just got offered a roster spot at Rutgers.’ My dad and I were just talking about the the future and what my plans were. We didn’t know if I would get this opportunity.”

Ward grew up in an area that was very pro-Penn State, but they are all starting to buy scarlet colored shirts these days.

“We were Penn State fans, big Penn State wrestling fans,” Ward said. “My dad wrestled at Lock Haven, so obviously Lock Haven wrestling fans, but we love Penn State wrestling. I grew up watching Penn State. It’s kind of cool, now obviously we are all Rutgers fans and everyone is buying scarlet shirts with big R’s on them.”

And, Ward feels like a lot of people in the area are also suddenly becoming Rutgers fans.

“It’s pretty cool, I have had people sending me texts and everything from the Canton area, saying I guess Rutgers is my second favorite college team now,” Ward said. “It’s pretty cool being able to turn over a new stone to people.”

If one day Ward gets a chance to play against Penn State it’s possible he could face one of his former teammates, Ben Knapp, a tight end on the Penn State roster. And, who knows, if one day Ward ended up on defense he could actually try and defend Knapp.

“That would be really cool,” Ward said. “Maybe if I make the switch to safety or something happens and maybe Ben and I will be able to do a little throw back to our high school days and do a little one-on-one and see what happens.”

Kayla loves getting a chance to see her brother live his dream.

“It’s so exciting to see Timmy get this opportunity at Rutgers,” she said. “Since he was about four-years-old, it’s all he’s ever wanted to do was play football. He’s always had really big dreams, so even when he had some of his football years taken from him, he never took now for an answer. He just kept working and found a different way to get to where he wanted to be.

“I couldn’t be more excited to see what’s next for him after making the team at Rutgers. He’s truly dreamt of an opportunity like this his whole life, so I’m thrilled for him that he’s finally getting to just go play football again. None of this has been handed to him or came the easy way so I’m really proud of him for forging his own path and not giving up on himself. While he still has big things he wants to accomplish, honestly anything else from here on out is just icing on the cake to the rest of us. We’re just happy he’s healthy and getting the chance to do what he loves.”

HARD WORK PAYS OFF

The journey to get to Rutgers has been a wild one for Ward.

With everything that has happened over the past few years it’s hard for Ward to even think about everything he’s been through.

“It’s definitely been very crazy,” Ward said. “I would say it’s a pretty unique story and everything I’ve gone through, it’s been a crazy few years. I haven’t really been able to let everything soak in because I’ve been trying to work my way back. I’ve been busy working my way back and once I get back I have a set back again. It’s definitely been really crazy. I am hoping this summer I’ll be able to relax for a little bit and soak everything in and think, ‘I did all that.’”

One of the biggest things that helped Ward get through all the adversity was his attitude. For Kayla just seeing her brother living a healthy, normal life is a huge accomplishment.

“Just overcoming a cancer diagnosis and getting back to normal life is the feat of a lifetime,” Kayla said. “But, then watching how hard he worked to get himself back on the field after his cancer treatments, his knee injury was really discouraging at first and it would have been the easy thing for him to use that as an excuse to let go of his big dreams.

“But, for him it was the opposite. Like everything else, he just used it to fuel his fire and became even more determined to reach his goals. These obstacles have given him a really unique perspective on life and sports. I think that contributed to his positive attitude through even his hardest moments, because he knows better than anybody not to take a single moment for granted.”

Ward feels like to make it to this level you have to work hard.

“I think that’s how it is,” Ward said. “That should be how it is for everybody, keep going, keep grinding. If you work hard there shouldn’t be anything you can’t get through. When I work hard enough, hopefully I get the chance to play on Saturday’s here. If not, that’s fine to, I’m just here to work hard and contribute to the team any way I can.”

Right now, Ward is working as hard as he can to get better.

“I’m doing as much as I can to put myself in a position to succeed,” Ward said. “I’m running extra, catching footballs off jugs machines, riding the bike extra, doing every little thing I can to allow myself to get better every day. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to compete on Saturday’s and we’ll see what happens.”

Ward is excited to be a part of the Rutgers program and see what they can accomplish.

“It’s very cool,” Ward said. “There are a lot of good things going on right now here. Hopefully we just keep working hard and obviously our coaches know what they are doing and know what’s best for us and our team. They have goals they set and won’t stop until they get there. Coach (Greg) Schiano really wants to turn the program around and he is making everyone buy in. I am going to experience some good things these next few years.”