Phillip Ward
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Gardena, California, U.S.
| No. 55, 58 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | November 1, 1974 Gardena, California, U.S. | ||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||
| Weight | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school | Pius X (Downey, California) | ||||
| College | UCLA | ||||
| NFL draft | 1997: undrafted | ||||
| Career history | |||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Phillip Eugene Ward (born November 1, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints. He also was a member of the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 1997. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins.
Ward attended Pius X High School. As a senior, he broke his wrist and only played in 4 games. He also practiced baseball and basketball.[1]
He accepted a football scholarship from the University of California, Los Angeles.[2] As a redshirt freshman with the Bruins, he was a backup at linebacker. As a sophomore, he was named a starter at outside linebacker, tallying 56 tackles (sixth on the team), 7.5 sacks (second on the team) and 12.5 tackles for loss (second on the team).
As a junior, the team changed to a 4-3 defense and he became a starter at defensive end. He was limited with a knee injury and missed 2 games. The change wasn't a good position fit and his stats dropped to 27 tackles and one sack.
As a senior, he was a starter at outside linebacker, posting 60 tackles (second on the team) and 11 tackles for loss. Against the University of Michigan, he had 8 tackles and 2 interceptions, one of them was Tom Brady's first college football pass, which he returned for a 42-yard touchdown.[3]