JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It is apparently impossible to be around Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jihad Ward and not smile.
How can you not be amused when he walks down the hallway in the facility with a 1980s-style boom box on his shoulder?
Or when he ran onto the practice field and tackled mascot Jaxson de Ville at one of the open practices early in training camp?
We can't wait to the pads on!@JIHADWARD17 | @Dream_Finders pic.twitter.com/QqwWJiQNPb
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) July 31, 2021
Or when he did three front somersaults on the practice field after an offensive penalty during 11-on-11 work?
Ward is constant entertainment for his teammates and coaches. The Jaguars signed the six-year vet to a one-year contract because he played in the defense coordinator Joe Cullen brought from Baltimore, but his locker room levity and leadership is an added benefit.
“We call him ‘Live Wire’ on the D-line because you never know what he’s going to do next,” nose tackle Malcom Brown said. “He does a lot of funny things on a daily basis. He keeps the meeting room live, he keeps everything in practice live. You would think he never gets tired at practice because he’s always yelling or doing something, flipping out there on the field and everything like that.
“So, yeah, Haddy brings a lot of energy.”
Ward says he wasn’t always that way. He was a quiet kid when Oakland drafted him in the second round in 2016 out of Illinois but said his journey -- going from Oakland to Dallas to Indianapolis to Baltimore before signing with the Jaguars -- taught him his career could be over at any moment, so he might as well enjoy himself along the way.
“It’s a mental thing throughout all of my transactions throughout my NFL career," Ward said. "Of course, all rookies [are] quiet, right? You see Trevor [Lawrence], you see Jordan [Smith], they seem quiet, but it’s time to embrace yourself. This stuff is short. Everybody’s focused right now, everybody’s in training camp, and everybody’s just [saying], ‘I have to do what I have to do.’ Enjoy it because that one play can change your life.
“I tell people every time, there’s no such thing as a 53-man roster. I know that sounds crazy, but there’s no such thing. So, with that being said, you never know. Enjoy it. You could be balling at training camp, next thing you know it’s a money situation or they have their opinions. As long as you live it and have fun, you won't worry about the rest. Then, it’s 32 teams out there that see your film, and they want you.”
Ward also likes to pull pranks, though neither Ward nor any other players would give examples. Linebacker Damien Wilson was with Ward during the offseason with the Cowboys and said Ward was the same way in Dallas, so Wilson has been able to avoid being the victim of a practical joke this time.
“Oh no, he can’t prank me,” Wilson said. “I’m on to all his tricks. I’m on to all his games. I’m unprankable.”
Ward says he wants to keep things light in the locker room to make sure his teammates, especially rookies, remember that taking things too seriously all the time rips the enjoyment out of the game.
“There’s going to be times where you just don’t feel like practicing. You have to have that mindset, man,” Ward said. “It’s just like work. Sometimes you don’t feel like going to work, but you have to have fun with this. Live your life. That’s what I tell these rookies. You cannot control what’s going on up here [in team management]. All you can control is this field. So, they can run the show, they can have their opinions up here, but let it be known: I control this whole field, and I’m going to do whatever I want.
“Still do the plays and all that, but I’m going to be me, and I’m going to live my life. That’s how you have to carry it. That’s how you have to carry it to the fullest.”
It’s understandable Ward chooses to live that way because of what he’s fought through to get here. He grew up in a rough neighborhood in North Philadelphia as the oldest of five children born to a single mother. Ward didn’t play football until his sophomore year at Edward W. Bok Technical High School and started as a safety and wide receiver before eventually moving to defensive end.
He spent two years at Globe Institute of Technology in New York to work on his academics before transferring to Illinois. Oakland selected him 44th overall in 2016 but traded him to Dallas in April 2018. Ward was waived in final cuts and was signed by Indianapolis. The Colts released him in October 2019 and Ward signed with the Ravens, where he was coached by Cullen.
When Urban Meyer hired Cullen to be the Jaguars defensive coordinator, Cullen advocated for Ward, who had 23 tackles and four sacks in 21 games with the Ravens.
“He’s a physical specimen in terms of the run game,” Cullen said. “He’s 285 pounds, he can play four positions, really. To win this division, you go to Nashville, and you see what the Titans have. I mean, you have got to set edges against those guys, and then that’s what we brought him here for. He has a great motor, he knows the system, and he can play inside in pass-rush situations, and he plays outside in base.”
Ward signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Jaguars, so 2021 is a prove-it year for him to secure a longer contract, but clearly the pressure of that isn’t getting to him. Not with his mascot tackling, boom boxing and somersaulting.
“I’m living my f---ing life,” he said. “It’s hard to make it out of the city, it’s hard to make it out of the 'hood. I’m living my life, man.”
His teammates appreciate it, too.
“You always need those guys on the team because, I mean, when everybody’s not feeling it, he’s going to bring the energy for everybody,” Brown said. “He’s going to get everybody rolling, even if he’s not feeling it. I mean, he still comes out there and shows you even if he’s not feeling it. He just goes, he goes.”
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