Florida State legend Charlie Ward will return to his old stomping grounds on Saturday and that doesn’t mean Doak Campbell Stadium.
Instead, Ward will be available for a book signing following the hoops contest with rival Miami. When it comes to his time in Tallahassee, Ward is of lauded for his accomplishments on the gridiron and rightfully so as he became the first Seminole to win the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 1993 and led the Seminoles to their first national championship.
As a 2-sport star, Ward was also an instrumental part of FSU’s run to the Elite Eight during the 1992-93 basketball season — a feat the Seminoles have not accomplished on the hardwood since. Ward ranked in the top 10 in the ACC in steals and assists in two of his four seasons with the Seminoles. Following a productive college career, Ward went on to spend 11 seasons in the NBA with the New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets.
Ward will be on hand following the hoops contest with Miami to sign his biography, “The Athlete: Greatness, Grace and the Unprecedented Life of Charlie Ward”, written by Jon Finkel. The book was released last month.
“It’s about my life and how my faith played a part in the career I was able to have as a student-athlete and as a professional,” Ward said. “It talks about the trials and tribulations that got me to that point. It goes into how I was formed and raised. It kind of chronicles my entire life to where I am today.”
Finkel has written about other prominent athletes including former Pittsburgh Steelers’ great “Mean” Joe Greene and former NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion Nate Robinson.
“Jon did a great job telling the story,” Ward said. “A lot of people know the outcomes of a lot of situations, but not how I got to that point and how faith guided my decision-making. There’s a lot of great stories in there — some I didn’t even remember.”
Now a husband, father of three and the head football coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, Ward said the book speaks of his work ethic, his influences along the way and other interesting stories like how he spent his first season of eligibility at FSU as the team’s punter.
“We visited how I made the NBA and how I got to FSU,” Ward said. “A lot of people probably don’t know the details of how things came to pass. There was a lot of patience and perseverance that went into things. It was all in God’s plan with how he orchestrated it all and he gets all the glory.”
Ward said copies of the book are available at the university bookstore. It’s also available on Amazon for $28. Saturday’s contest with Miami at the Donald L. Tucker Center tips off at 4 p.m. EST.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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