Carl Davis Ward (born July 26, 1944) is a former

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

player. He played college football as a halfback for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1964 to 1966 and professional football in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

from 1967 to 1969.

Early years

Ward was born in

Hartford, Alabama Hartford is a city in Geneva County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in 1896. It is part of the Dothan, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census the population was 2,651, up from 2,624 in 2010. Geography Hartford is lo ...

, in 1944. He attended

Taft High School Taft School or Taft High School may refer to: * Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, founded by Horace Dutton Taft, William Howard Taft's brother Schools named after William Howard Taft: * William Howard Taft High School (Los Angeles) * Willi ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio.

Michigan

In 1964, Ward helped lead the Wolverines football team to their first

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship since 1950, breaking the longest championship drought in school history. The 1964 Wolverines outscored their opponents 235–83, finished the regular season 8–1, and narrowly missed an undefeated season with a 21–20 loss to a

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

team led by sophomore Bob Griese. The Wolverines (ranked No. 4) advanced to the Rose Bowl where they defeated

Tommy Prothro James Thompson "Tommy" Prothro Jr. (July 20, 1920 – May 14, 1995) was an American football coach. He was the head coach at Oregon State University from 1955 to 1964 and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1965 to 1970, compil ...

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ( Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for ...

, 34–7, on New Year's Day. Ward gained 88 rushing yards on 10 carries in the

1965 Rose Bowl The 1965 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1965, was the 51st Rose Bowl Game. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the Oregon State Beavers by a score of 34–7. Michigan fullback Mel Anthony was named the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game. Teams ...

, including a 43-yard touchdown run. Ward continued as one of the Wolverines' leading yard gainers for three consecutive years from 1964 to 1966. He was the team's leading rusher in 1965 with 639 net rushing yards and the leading kickoff returner with 193 yards on 10 kickoff returns. In a September 1966 game that matched Michigan against its 1965 Rose Bowl opponent, Ward scored to touchdowns in a 31–0 victory over Oregon State. From 1964 to 1966, Ward totaled 2,266

all-purpose yards All-purpose yards or all-purpose yardage is a gridiron football statistical measure. It is virtually the same as the statistic that some football leagues refer to as combined net yards. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing t ...

for Michigan, including 1,673 rushing yards, 396 yards on kickoff returns, and 188 receiving yards. His biggest single-game performances for Michigan were as follows:

Professional football

Ward was drafted by the

in the 4th round (83rd overall pick) of the 1967 NFL Draft and signed with the Browns in July 1967. In the Browns' final pre-season game, Ward returned a kickoff 85 yards against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. During the 1967 regular season, he returned 22 kickoffs for 546 yards and 6 punts for 62 yards, ranking 8th in the NFL in punt and kickoff return yardage. The highlight of Ward's rookie season came on November 26, 1967 when he returned a kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. His 104-yard return was the longest in Cleveland Browns franchise history and remains tied for the 15th-longest in NFL history. During the 1968 season, Ward returned 13 kickoffs for 236 yards. In September 1969, the

acquired Ward off waivers from the Browns. Ward appeared in only two games for the Saints during the 1969 season, returning 3 kickoffs for 58 yards.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Carl 1944 births Living people Michigan Wolverines football players Cleveland Browns players New Orleans Saints players Players of American football from Alabama