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Ravens Deny 'Bounty' On Hines Ward; NFL Investigates

Linebacker Says Pittsburgh Receiver Is Cheap Shotter

POSTED: 2:12 pm EDT October 22, 2008
UPDATED: 1:29 pm EDT October 23, 2008

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward will be a target in Pittsburgh's next game against AFC North rival Baltimore, according to recent comments by Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs.

"We've got something in store for him," Suggs said Friday on the "2 Live Stews" radio show.

The hosts asked Suggs if the Ravens players will have a "bounty" on Ward, and Suggs said they will.

Baltimore was unable to hit Ward during a 23-20 Steelers victory on Sept. 29, so the Ravens will once again try to deliver a message in the Dec. 14 rematch, according to Suggs.

"The bounty was out on 86 [Ward's jersey number]. We just couldn't get to him between the whistle," Suggs said.

Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, was in Pittsburgh for a meeting with the Steelers Wednesday. He said the league is looking into Suggs' comments.

"That bounty notion is completely against the rules ... to the extent that someone is engaged in that activity, we will look into it and address it," Anderson said. "We've seen the comments and we're trying to determine the completeness of the circumstances."

"They said they was going to take care of it, but I want to see what they're going to fine a guy for saying that," Ward told 96.1 FM's "Freak Show" radio hosts on Thursday. "They fined James Harrison for making a comment about referees, and he got fined $20,000. But when you go out and say there's bounties, that's worse than what James said about referees."

Ward said this kind of talk from Baltimore is nothing new to him.

"I've been having a bounty out on me since Rod Woodson was there," Ward told 96.1. "All I kept hearing was, 'We'll get you back next game.' Well, (Ravens linebacker) Bart Scott got hit last year (in a November 2007 game), and then in the last game of the year, we was already in the playoffs. All they kept saying was, 'You should be glad you didn't have to play, we got a bounty out on you.'"

Ward is known for throwing hard blocks on opposing players. He was fined by the NFL for unnecessary roughness after two games this season, although the referees in each of those games did not penalize him.

"It's legal, but it's cheap," Suggs said. "Hines Ward's definitely a dirty player, a cheap shot artist, but we've got something in store for him."

"Well, I'm blocking a guy way away from the play," Ward told 96.1. "But at the same time, I got to protect myself when (former Ravens running back) Jamal Lewis says, 'There's a bounty on you, be careful.' So if I'm on the opposite side of the field, I'm going to protect myself and try to whup a guy's tail the whole game, regardless. When the whistle blows, it don't matter where you at on the field. It's football."

Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne told ProFootballTalk.com that the team does not have bounties. He said Suggs merely repeated a term that the radio hosts used first and suggested that Suggs didn't fully understand the implications of the word "bounty."

"Just asked Suggs about this and his reply was: 'You know, bounties, like sending a message that it's going to be a long day for you -- that you're not the one who is going to get it done today,'" Byrne said.

Ward has always maintained that his style of play is legal and he doesn't understand why the fines were levied against him.

When asked about Suggs' comment after practice Wednesday, Ward chose to take the high road.

"I'll worry about that later. I'm not worrying about what a guy says about a bounty," Ward said. "Everybody in our division, I'm sure they all have a bounty on me sooner or later. Everybody wants to knock the smile off my face."

In the radio interview, Suggs also stated there was a bounty out on rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall left the Sept. 29 game against the Ravens with a fractured shoulder and is out for the rest of the season.


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