Hines Ward Receives Honorary Citizenship In Seoul
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – APRIL 5: American football player Hines Ward (L) of the Pittsburgh Steelers weeps after he received an honorary citizenship of Seoul from the Mayor of Seoul Lee Myung-Bak at city hall on April 5, 2006 in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea welcomed the return of its new found sports hero Ward with celebrations for the Korean-American football star who left the country as a toddler. Ward, who was born to a Korean mother and an African-American father, became an overnight sensation in South Korea when the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver won the MVP award in the team’s Super Bowl win against the Seattle Seahawks in February. Ward, 31, was accompanied by his mother Kim Young-Hee, who took him to the United States when he was two-years-old to escape the discrimination often suffered by mixed-race children in South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)