The National Football League is not for the faint of heart. Whether it's physically or mentally, the game can be absolutely brutal. After all, where else can you find grown men destroy an opponent while other players get death threats for messing up? It takes a special kind of person to succeed at this level.
At 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Jihad Ward certainly fits the bill when it comes to the physical tools it takes to play on Sundays. But although the 24-year-old hasn't found the most success so far in his young career, he is a force to be reckoned with.
If you don't believe that statement, just ask the wall inside the Colts' training facility. It won't talk back to you, obviously, but it will show you a pretty big battle scar. On Wednesday, the Colts posted security footage of Ward throwing a medicine ball so hard that it destroyed the poor wall.
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This isn't the Kool-Aid Man fictitiously busting through the wall, screaming "OH YEAH!" to surprise people. This is a grown man so damn strong that his medicine ball throw just took out a wall.
A former second-round pick (No. 44 overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft out of the University of Illinois, Jihad Ward spent two seasons with the Oakland Raiders before starting the 2018 season on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad. He was waived during final roster cuts and found a home with the Colts last September.
Unfortunately, an ankle injury sidelined him in a game against the Buffalo Bills, but the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native is working his way back to find a permanent home in the NFL. He played in just six games last season and has recorded 36 tackles, including 4.0 sacks, with one fumble recovery during his career.
So while NFL free agency and trades steal the vast majority of the headlines these days, such as former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb joining the Dallas Cowboys or superstar Odell Beckham Jr. getting traded to the Cleveland Browns from the New York Giants, understand there are guys like Jihad Ward working their tails off to make it.
That poor medicine ball and wall know about it now.
