Photo by Hank Spencer, Image Arts.
Ward Webb
Ward Webb (55) is a Bryant-Jordan Student Achievement region winner. The senior played football despite having lost the lower part of his legs due to an accident when he was 4. He played with prosthetic legs.
Ward Webb is an everyday kid. You really wouldn’t notice anything special about him as he runs around the football field for the Mountain Brook Spartans.
Oh, he’s probably a little more spirited than most. And the senior linebacker was usually the first one on the field for practices over his time playing football for the Spartans.
Of course, there was that time, Spartans coach Chris Yeager said …
“Ward was knocked down, and his body rolled in one direction and a leg rolled in the other,” Yeager said. “And the players were shocked because they thought he’d just lost a leg in the game.”
“I’ve probably broken 10 to 12 legs,” Webb said.
He’s not going to let a little thing like broken legs keep him from playing. It’s always good to have a backup pair of legs.
Webb has always insisted he not be treated any differently from anyone else. At 4 years old, Webb lost both of his feet, amputated after a horrible accident involving a downed power line. He wears prosthetic legs made by BioTech Limb and Brace — one type for football made of carbon fiber, Kevlar and titanium, one type for everyday activities.
Actually, that’s just one of the special things about Webb. The other is that he has refused to let what some would see as a disability be the defining thing is his life.
If anything, he’s drawn inspiration, strength and an amazing attitude from his situation to motivate him.
Those qualities have earned Webb the 2015 Bryant-Jordan Award for Student Achievement for Class 7A Region 3. He will be honored with all 104 of the student achievement and scholar-athlete regional winners from across the state at a banquet and ceremony at the Birmingham-Sheraton on April 13.
Webb is modest. As you talk to him, it’s clear he feels anyone in his position would have responded the same way. He’s not really keen on all the attention he gets. He feels blessed to have been able to play football for Mountain Brook.
“Honestly, all my friends really helped me through everything,” Webb said. “My parents played a big part in it and my coaches did also — I can’t say enough about my coaches.
“Through the years, people told me I could do whatever I wanted to. I kind of embraced that and used it to the best of my ability.”
But as much inspiration as Webb said he’s drawn from others, Yeager said that’s nothing compared to the inspiration he’s been to the team, and to the coach himself personally.
“The first time I ever met Ward was when he and his mom walked into my office and he said, ‘I want to play football.’ And my mind just started racing, because I’ve coached 30-plus years and there’s very little that comes up that you say, ‘I’ve never had this happen before.’
“What accommodations do we have to make, do we need special equipment? But he and his mom, the whole time it’s been he didn’t want to be treated differently from anybody else.”
Webb played in about half the games this past season, and when you consider we’re talking about Class 7A, Region 3, the toughest region in the state, that’s a significant achievement.
“Players get upset sometimes, hurt they don’t get to play the position they want, don’t get as many touches as they want, or the playing time they want,” Yeager said. “And then you see a guy like Ward and he just loves this game, he just loves this team. I think it sends a message about the trivial things that don’t matter. Ward just makes me realize how blessed we all are, and that’s how he sees himself, it just makes those things seem trivial.”
Every coach hopes to impart things to his players, inspire them, challenge them, help them become better adults down the road.
Sometimes, Yeager agreed, a player teaches a coach something.
“I’ve been coaching 30 years and seen some of the most minor obstacles and trivial inconveniences that [made people stop] in their tracks and go the other way. When things don’t go your way, it’s human nature to be a little bitter sometimes, think you’re entitled to a life without obstacles.
“Ward has such a grateful spirit, he thinks what he’s done and what he’s accomplished is no big deal. He really sees himself as blessed.”
Yeager recalled an occasion when Webb received an honor and it was mentioned that he’d overcome a loss.
Webb said to the interviewer, “I haven’t lost anything. I’m getting to play the great game of football and I’m on a team with a bunch of guys that are as close to me as family.”
Yeager said that’s just Webb being the positive, upbeat Webb.
“Everybody has tough days,” Yeager said. “And I’ve gone out on the field thinking I’m having a tough day and at the other end of the field I’ll see him out there running around before practice, just throwing the football with a buddy or whatever, and it just makes you think I don’t even know what a tough day is.
“It’s been an unbelievable inspiration to coach him.”
Becoming a Bryant-Jordan honoree
A committee of school principals chose the Bryant-Jordan area winners. A committee of school administrators in each region then selected the regional winners. The overall winners will be selected by a statewide committee comprised of school administrators and state business leaders.
All 104 will be recognized at the 2015 Bryant-Jordan Banquet set for Birmingham’s Sheraton Hotel Ballroom April 13. Each regional winner will receive a $2,500 scholarship with class winners receiving an additional $3,000 scholarship. The overall Larry D. Striplin Jr. Scholar-Athlete and the overall Ken and Betty Joy Blankenship Achievement Award state winners will receive an additional $3,000 each.
Regional winners are also eligible to receive several other scholarships that will be awarded by 13 Alabama four-year colleges and 13 Alabama community colleges participating in the program.
Several special scholarships are also presented annually including the Dr. Gaylon McCollough Medical Scholarship ($2,500) earmarked for a selected regional winner who plans to go into the medical field, and the Herman “Bubba” Scott Coach’s Scholarship ($2,500) given to a selected regional winner who plans to go into teaching and coaching.
The Auburn Football Lettermen and the University of Alabama “A” Club Educational and Charitable Foundation also present scholarships to selected regional winners who plan to attend either Auburn or Alabama, respectively. The Auburn Lettermen present two $2,500 scholarships while the Alabama “A” Club presents scholarships totaling $12,000.
In addition, each school that has an individual classification winner will receive a $2,000 cash award. Approximately $1 million in scholarships are awarded annually in the nationally acclaimed program named for legendary football coaches Paul “Bear” Bryant and Ralph “Shug” Jordan. The program began in 1986 as a project of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Alabama High School Athletic Association and is now in its 30th year.
