LaShaun Brandon Ward (born September 22, 1980) is a former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

wide receiver. He was signed by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2003. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. Ward has also been a member of the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

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 ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Los Angeles Avengers The Los Angeles Avengers were an Arena Football League team based in Los Angeles, California, from 2000 through 2008. They folded on April 19, 2009. History The Los Angeles Avengers played their home games at the Staples Center, which is also th ...

and

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

Early years

Ward was born on September 22, 1980, in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, to Jayce and Esmeralda Ward. He attended

John Muir High School John Muir High School is a four-year comprehensive secondary school in Pasadena, California, United States and is a part of the Pasadena Unified School District. The school is named after preservationist John Muir. History In 1926 the Pasadena ...

where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. At Muir he was credited with 5,000 total yards as a Junior and Senior. As a senior, he threw for 1,675 yards and ran for 400 more and scored 24 touchdowns. He was a PrepStar Western Region team member, was the third ranked "athlete" (able to play multiple positions) in the country. Ward was an All-Pacific League and West San Gabriel Valley as a junior and senior.

College career

1998

As a true freshman Ward was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

1999

During his freshman year Ward played mainly at

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

and wide receiver. On defence he mainly played during nickel and dime packages and lined up with

Deltha O'Neal Deltha Lee O'Neal, III (born January 30, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the University of Califor ...

to field kickoffs. He recorded six kickoff returns for 78 yards which included a career-long 32-yard return against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. Ward made a key block on an O'Neal interception return for a touchdown against

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

. His first collegiate interception came against

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

with less than four minutes left in the game. As a wide receiver he caught a 43-yarder against

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

and a 55-yarder against

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

2000

He mainly played on defence for the Golden Bears playing mostly in passing situations. Against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

it was discovered that he had

internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal hemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body. Internal bleeding is usually not visible from the outside. It is a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depen ...

which caused him to miss the rest of the season. However, he still had 17 tackles, four pass deflections and one interception. His best game of the year came against UCLA when he had three unassisted tackles and a couple of pass deflections.

2001

In 2001, he mostly played at wide receiver after starting at defensive back. In the

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

game he got 135 yards on four catches and two touchdowns. He got five catches for 86 yards against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

and three catches for 78 against

. He got 69 yards on four rushes which ranked him third in rushing for Cal that season behind

Terrell Williams Terrell Williams (born June 19, 1974) is an American football coach and former player who is the assistant head coach and defensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). College career Williams is originally ...

and Joe Igber.

Professional career

Kansas City Chiefs

Ward was signed as an

by the

after going undrafted in the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. After appearing in one game for the Chiefs in 2003 and spending most of the season on the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

he was allocated to the

on February 10, 2004.

Oakland Raiders

He attended the

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

in 2005 but was released on August 22.

Washington Redskins

Ward signed with the

on January 11, 2006. He was released on May 9, 2006.

Buffalo Bills

On June 1, 2006, Ward signed with the

and was released on June 28.

Dallas Cowboys

He was signed by the

and attended training camp but was released on August 28, 2006.

Los Angeles Avengers

2007

Ward signed with the

shortly after being released by the Cowboys. In his first season with the Avengers in 2007 he got 41 receptions for 561 yards, along with nine touchdowns on offence. He got 31 tackles and one interception on defence.

2008

In 2008, Ward once again played on offence and defence for the Avengers. On offence he recorded 73 receptions for 1,214 receiving yards along with 26 touchdowns. While on defence he got 12 tackles and one fumble recovery.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Ward was signed by the

on April 9, 2009. He was released on June 19, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Lashaun 1980 births Living people Players of American football from Pasadena, California Players of Canadian football from Pasadena, California American players of Canadian football American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers California Golden Bears football players Kansas City Chiefs players Oakland Raiders players Dallas Cowboys players Buffalo Bills players Washington Redskins players Los Angeles Avengers players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players