The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward is recovering from surgery to repair bone fragments in his ankle.
It’s the latest bit of confirmation that Ward intends to play football in 2012. He may have passed on the procedure if his career were over.
As to whether he’ll return to Pittsburgh, Ward has publicly put the ball in the Steelers’ court. He met face-to-face with coach Mike Tomlin and owner Art Rooney this week.
“They really didn’t say anything [definitively],” Ward told the Post-Gazette. “It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad. We were just talking.”
In order to remain a Steeler, Ward will have to take a significant cut in pay. He’s owed a $4 million base salary, the Steelers are well over the cap, and Ward would enter the 2012 season as no better than the team’s No. 4 receiver.
