B/R Interview: Hines Ward, Terrell Davis Talk Super Bowl, Tums Trivia Game, More

Terrell Davis is a Hall of Fame running back who won two Super Bowls and a league MVP during his playing career, but some Denver Broncos fans may love him even more for his 2022 prediction than his on-field accomplishments. 

After all, he believes Aaron Rodgers is going to follow former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to Denver.

"I think the energy that he's brought is already being felt," Davis told Bleacher Report when discussing Hackett in a joint interview with Hines Ward. "The players are feeling it, I think the city is super excited about his enthusiasm. Of course, with him being in Denver, you know what the next question is. Are we getting No. 12? And the answer is absolutely. We'll have No. 12 in Denver next year. I feel really good about where the Broncos are and where we're headed."

The Broncos hired Hackett to replace the fired Vic Fangio and ideally be the coach who helps them snap a six-year playoff drought.

While his impressive resume includes helping lead the Jacksonville Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game as an offensive coordinator and directing a dominant offense for the 13-4 Packers this past season, convincing Rodgers to join him would make the hire an immediate victory and perhaps put the team in position to compete for Lombardi Trophies, as it did with Davis.

The career-long Bronco isn't the only one who has seen his former team undergo significant transition this offseason.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will look quite different after Ben Roethlisberger retired following 18 seasons, eight of which came with Ward catching passes as one of his wide receivers. Ward—who spent his entire career with the Steelers as a two-time Super Bowl champ, Super Bowl MVP and four-time Pro Bowler—had nothing but praise for the quarterback who helped him win two rings.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

"Kudos to Ben," he said. "He had a great Hall of Fame career. I was blessed to play in three Super Bowls with him, we won two. One thing about Ben, he's the ultimate competitor. Every time we were in the huddle together he just had that look like he didn't care what the score was. We knew we had a chance to win every game that he was in."

Ward pointed out Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins will have the opportunity to compete for a spot, but he also believes his former team should look toward the draft when addressing the position.

"I think they have to look into the draft to find the next Ben Roethlisberger to come out and lead the team for many years," he said. "They're already loaded on defense. Najee Harris had a great year, and there's Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson. So you have some weapons out there, now you just have to find that quarterback to lead the charge."

Whether it is the Broncos adding Rodgers or the Steelers finding their next Big Ben in the draft, the goal for both AFC teams coming off campaigns that didn't feature a playoff win will be to return the glory they enjoyed when Davis and Ward were on the field.

Davis is a three-time All-Pro selection, two-time Offensive Player of the Year and the league MVP in 1998, when he ran for 2,008 yards and 21 touchdowns, but the back-to-back Super Bowl victories in the 1997 and 1998 campaigns stand out.

He was the MVP of Super Bowl XXXII with 30 carries for 157 yards and three touchdowns when the Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers, but it was the moment the game ended that he remembers most.

"The first one I played in was in my hometown of San Diego, and the memory I have from that game is when our linebacker, John Mobley, knocked down a pass from Brett Favre for the last play of the game," he said. "Just the culmination of that happening, once you see that ball hit the ground and know the game is over. That was it, we won a championship. All the hard work you put in all the way from the OTAs and the offseason to training camp and a long season with the ups and downs and then you play for that championship, there's nothing like it."

Ward experienced that feeling twice, in Super Bowl XL when the Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks to cap off the 2005 season and in Super Bowl XLIII when Pittsburgh ended its 2008 season with a win over the Arizona Cardinals.

He was the MVP with 123 receiving yards and a touchdown in the win over the Seahawks, which helped him live out a childhood dream.

"As a child growing up, I dreamt about playing on the big stage," he said. "The next day at recess I'd go out and emulate who was the Super Bowl MVP. My first love for the game, I remember Doug Williams. I'd put on a shirt and put 17 on the back of it and go out at recess and light it up. I didn't want to run for any touchdowns, but I think I threw for 10 touchdowns that day. I wanted to be the next Doug Williams, who was the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. So that was my vision, and having the opportunity to play in it was just amazing. Sleepless night the night before the big game, somehow we pulled it off, and I was the MVP. Still one of the greatest moments of my life, just being able to say that you played at the highest level and played on the biggest stage and walked away with a Super Bowl victory is just awesome."

The Super Bowl MVPs may be retired, but they aren't done competing off the field.

Davis and Ward partnered with Tums and will go head-to-head in the Tumsworthy Big Game Trivia challenge on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.

Fans will also have the opportunity to win a piece of the prize money in a trivia contest:

"You've got two former Georgia Bulldogs going head-to-head for one bone," Ward said. "It's going to be exciting, and I don't like losing. TD, you're going down my brother."

Davis also brought the trash talk and said, "I hate to do this to Hines because he is not only a former Dawg, but he's my ex-teammate. I wish they put someone else from a different college because I'm going to feel bad about beating him."

They won't be the only former Georgia stars competing for a big prize this week, considering Matthew Stafford's Los Angeles Rams have a chance to take home the Lombardi Trophy when they face the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

While Cincinnati may be the natural underdog as a franchise that has never won a Super Bowl and hadn't won a playoff game since the 1990 season, both Stafford's Rams and Joe Burrow's Bengals are the No. 4 seed in their respective conference. In fact, it is the first time since the merger that the Super Bowl hasn't featured one of the top three seeds from the AFC or NFC.

These playoffs have largely been a coronation of Burrow, especially after he overcame a 21-3 deficit against Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, but Davis believes Stafford will be the biggest story Sunday and perhaps even inspire the Broncos in their pursuit of Rodgers. 

"For me, the storyline is Matthew Stafford," he said. "You've got to look at where he was in Detroit for 12 years … But now he goes to the Rams and gets them back to that Super Bowl and has a chance to change the entire narrative of his career. If he's able to pull this thing off, that would be awesome. And we had Brady who just went to the Bucs and they won a Super Bowl, so now teams are starting to see, 'Hey, we can grab a quarterback and bring him in and look for instant success and be willing to go all-in on that quarterback.' Like Aaron Rodgers in Denver."

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Ward said he will be focused on the individual matchup between Jalen Ramsey and Ja'Marr Chase as a former wide receiver, but he believes Los Angeles' defensive line will help Stafford take home the title.

"My heart is with Matthew Stafford, former UGA guy," he said. "I want him to hopefully have an opportunity to win the Super Bowl and bring home that ring. And you look at the Rams defensive line going up against Cincinnati's offensive line, I just don't know how you stop the weapons that the Rams have with Aaron Donald, Von Miller and co."

Davis also thinks stopping that defensive line will be an issue for the Bengals.

"I'm going 27-24 Los Angeles Rams," he said. "And my MVP is going to go to Aaron Donald. He's going to wreck the game I believe, and I think he'll be the difference-maker."

Ward is even more confident in the NFC representative.

"I'm going to go blowout," he said. "I'm going to go 33-21 Rams. And Matthew Stafford will join Terrell and myself as being UGA Super Bowl MVPs."

What a way that would be for the Bulldogs to cap off a football season that also saw them win the national championship.