Hines Ward Gives Back

American Youth Football’s Own Coweta County Cougars Spend the Day with Hines Ward!

Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted a day-long youth football camp at Forest Park Stadium in Forest Park, Georgia in May, and there to represent American Youth Football was Coach DeAndre Franklin and his Coweta County Cougars.

 The Cougars got a chance to show off their skills and most importantly, spend the day with an NFL player who is truly all about Giving Back.  "My mom always said, 'Never forget where you came from,' " Ward said. "When you look at the different perspectives some people have in life, you cannot get caught up in playing football. I am never going to think I am better than anybody else. I am blessed to be doing what I love to do. Not everybody is so blessed."

Ward has a special spot in his heart for less fortunate children -- mostly, he said, because he was one. Born in Seoul in 1976 to a black father, Hines, and a Korean mother, Kim Young-hee, Ward's family moved to Georgia during his first year, hence his ties and desire to return to Atlanta to host his youth football camp. Hines grew up in a single parent home; he also grew up poor -- a fact that he was reminded of when friends from fellow financially strapped families ridiculed Ward about his preference for books.

Ward established his Helping Hands Foundation to focus on promoting literacy and serving children from single-family homes throughout Western Pennsylvania. He donated more than $1 million to help start the foundation.