HINES WARD... GREAT SON, GREAT STORY

HatTip to Mingi. Even if you don't follow the Steelers, and you're an NFL fan you probably know about Hines Ward and his devotion and love for his mother. The half-Black, half-Korean wide receiver is just a class act and this is a great story.

Ward to honor devoted mother with trip home to South Korea

Hines Ward is taking the trip of an NFL player's lifetime to the Super Bowl. It's the visit he's wanted to make since first playing youth football in Atlanta and, because of two AFC championship game losses, one he feared he might never achieve.

As much as reaching Detroit means to the Pittsburgh Steelers' four-time Pro Bowl receiver, the journey he takes in April will be equally significant for a much different reason.

For the first time in his adult life, Ward is traveling back to South Korea. One of the few Asian-heritage stars in NFL history, he's planning a two-week vacation there accompanied by the mother, Kim Young-hee, who came to America in the 1970s to be with her GI husband.

To the 29-year-old Ward, traveling to a country where the NFL is barely known represents much more than a chance to do some sightseeing, to be introduced to a culture he has been told about but has never seen in person.

This is about saying thanks to a mother who didn't know English when she moved to the United States, but knew of things far more important: the value of trust, honesty, hard work, loyalty.

And, most of all, of love.

"My mom is why I'm here today," Ward said Monday, shortly after the Steelers arrived in Detroit. "My mom worked her tail off for me. She taught me how important it is to work hard. I'm not here if it's not for my mom." (full article)