Category profile
- Dominance
- 80
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 88
- Honours
- 84
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
| Season | Touchdowns per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 95 | |
| 1999 | 638 | |
| 2000 | 1063 | |
| 2001 | 1003 | |
| 2002 | 1329 | |
| 2003 | 1163 | |
| 2004 | 1004 | |
| 2005 | 975 | |
| 2006 | 975 | |
| 2007 | 732 | |
| 2008 | 1043 | |
| 2009 | 1167 | |
| 2010 | 755 | |
| 2011 | 381 |
Data sources
- NFL.com
- Pro Football Reference
- Pro Football Hall of Fame
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Hines Ward ranks #73 in American Football
Hines Ward ranks 73rd among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 1226th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 86.2 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 80, Peak 90, Longevity 88, Honours 84, Statistics 92. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 381 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1998–2011 with 14 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2002, which sets the Peak component at 90. Statistics is the defining strength of the profile at 92 out of 100, and it carries 15% of the final score. The underlying career record includes super bowl titles 2, super bowl mvp awards 1, career receptions 1000, career receiving yards 12083.
Immediately ahead sits Davante Adams on 86.4, a gap of 0.2 points. Directly behind is Ed "Too Tall" Jones on 86.3. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Hines Ward GOAT Score explained
- Dominance80/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Ward stood above the field while competing. Scored 80/100 against the full American Football cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2002. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity88/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 13 years of competition and 14 recorded seasons. Scored 88/100.
- Honours84/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 84/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Ward comparisons
Hines Ward — frequently asked
- Is Hines Ward the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Hines Ward ranks 73rd in American Football with a GOAT Score of 86.2, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
- What is Hines Ward's GOAT Score?
- 86.2 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 80 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 88 (20%), Honours 84 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Hines Ward rank all time?
- 1226th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 73rd within American Football.
- Hines Ward vs Davante Adams: who ranks higher?
- Davante Adams, on 86.4 against Hines Ward's 86.2 — a margin of 0.2 points.