Steelers receiver Hines Ward needs five catches on Sunday in Cleveland to reach 1,000 grabs for his career. If he gets there, he'll become just the 8th WR in NFL history to hit that milestone joining Jerry Rice, Tony Gonzalez, Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter, Tim Brown, Terrell Owens, and Issac Bruce. Hines talked about what the record would mean and what it might take to reach it.
"Of course all the guys are talking about it and stuff like that. For me, I just want to win. We have a chance to win the AFC North, to get an important bye week, a game at Heinz Field at least, that's the main goal. Guys are always talking about 'How many more catches?' but I don't really play this game worrying about my individual stats. If we go out there and don't get it but we win, I'll be just as happy as if I do get the record. It's more about the win than the record."
Do you think Cleveland will be aware of your record chase?
"We played the Rams [and] I heard the head coach screaming towards the end [of the game], 'Double cover Hines! Double cover Hines!' I've never heard that, an opposing coach running down the sideline regardless of what coverage they was in, he specifically told them to cover me. I ended up having like two or three guys around me. I don't know [Cleveland's] game plan, but I hope it's just to play football, not really worrying about me getting my five catches or not."