Chiefs: Unsung Heroes – Charvarius Ward

Chiefs: Unsung Heroes – Charvarius Ward – This is the fourth and final in my series dedicated to the unsung heroes of the Kansas City Chiefs: those players who are not as well-covered, nor as well-known. You know, those players who get little glory, less recognition, and even smaller salaries, that help ensure the machine is well-oiled and make the magic happen. As extraordinary as Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and the others are, they could not be such without these lesser-known guys. Those are the unsung heroes who make the impossible, possible.

While I could probably continue this series for a dozen more weeks, as many Chiefs are worthy, I opted to end it with Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward. Not only is Ward one of the top unsung heroes of the Chiefs triumphant 2019 campaign, he was also the most improved player, offense or defense.

Ward came to the Chiefs in a rather roundabout way. They acquired the undrafted free agent, who is out of Middle Tennessee State, from the Dallas Cowboys for offensive lineman Parker Ehinger, a 2016 Chiefs fourth round draft pick at the end of the 2018 preseason, just prior to the trade deadline. The rookie cornerback admits he cried.

“I was shocked. I started crying at first. 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.”

The trade was a vintage Brett Veach move. Vintage in the sense that it was, 1) unexpected, and 2) another brilliant Veach personnel decision.

Eventually, Ward wiped his eyes dry and got to work. He was promising, but shaky, in his rookie season. He played in just 13 games, starting in only two. He logged just 30 tackles, defended a mere three passes and snagged nary an interception…. and many Chiefs fans wondered what Veach had been drinking the night he made the trade with the Cowboys.

Fast forward to the Chiefs 2019 season. The second-year cornerback, started all 16 regular season games, nabbed 2 interceptions, defended 10 passes, forced a fumble, made 74 tackles, and also ran back a blocked PAT (blocked by Tanoh Kpassagnon) for two points against the Raiders.

Many will attribute Ward’s improvement to the tutelage of veteran safety Tyrann Mathieu along with a more aggressive defensive strategy by new defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo. I readily admit that they helped further develop the new-and-improved cornerback, but I contend that it was Ward, himself, who is most responsible for his graduation from unsure at the start of the 2018 season to lockdown cornerback by the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV. As the old adage goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. To go with that analogy, our young Mr. Ward is a thoroughbred.

Ward is a smart football player, and a quick study. He’s a hard worker who covers opposing receivers like a duck on a june bug. With teammates like Dan Sorensen, Honey Badger, Bashaud Breeland (grow up, Bashaud!), and Juan Thornhill, continued improvement is on the horizon for our battle-tested, lockdown cornerback. As if his football IQ, solid teammates, talent, work ethic, and experience of the past two seasons as a Chief were not enough to ensure continued improvement this season… Ward got lasik surgery this past March, gifting the once near-sighted and far-sighted, oft-blurry-eyed CB with perfect 20/20 vision.

“I couldn’t see a thing, man. I couldn’t see nothing…

I finally can see. First time being able to really see good.”

– Charvarius Ward.

By the end of last season, opposing QBs were reluctant to throw his way, so ‘sticky’ had his coverage become. Opposing QBs should be even more afraid this season. As Arrowhead One Editor-in-Chief, Laddie Morse, voiced in his excellent article, Chiefs 2020 Defensive Growth Potential, yesterday, “…expect great things from Ward in the coming year…” I wholeheartedly agree and second what Laddie says. Everyone should. After all, you don’t need 20/20 vision to see that.

Unsung Heroes: Summary

Researching and writing this series reiterated to me the absolute truth that teams which win NFL games and hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of a hard-fought campaign must rely on all eleven players on the field every single play to be successful. If Frank Clark and Chris Jones aren’t pressuring the opposing QB, and his fellow defensive backs are not locking down their assigned targets, Ward will not be successful in breaking up, or intercepting, a pass thrown his way. If Mitchell Schwartz cannot keep a rampaging defensive lineman in front of him, Patrick Mahomes is picking himself up from the turf rather than celebrating a 50 or 60 yard strike to Tyreek Hill.

There is no “I” in football. Nor is there one in playoffs or Super Bowl. Every man that donned a Red and Gold jersey on the gridiron, in the Chiefs 2019 campaign, are unsung heroes. Perhaps no game from last season highlights this point more than the Chiefs Thanksgiving Day weekend drubbing of the (then) Oakland Raiders, 40-9.

Michael Travis Rose — ArrowheadOne

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