While the rest of us wait for Friday to finally watch Gotham's reckoning unfold, Hines Ward already knows its intensity firsthand.
In case you're unaware -- and quite frankly I'm not sure how you would be -- the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver is featured prominently in an epic scene from The Dark Knight Rises that was used during one of the film's trailers.
And let's just say this was the first time the now-retired Ward was afraid while running on a football field.
"I've run scared before, but I really ran scared that day," Ward told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "They told me, 'Don't look back.' I felt the explosion when I was running. I had to wear earplugs. Usually, I'm smiling when I'm running, but that day I was actually screaming."
The reason for Ward's role is because Steelers co-owner Thomas Tull helped co-produce the movie. Pittsburgh is one of the film's five main backdrops, and Heinz Field was used to film the aforementioned scene in the trailer. Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Mike Wallace, and former coach Bill Cowher also appear in the film as members of the Gotham Rogues.
Because of Tull's involvement, the Steelers were slated to preview The Dark Knight Rises on Tuesday night, three days ahead of the film's release.
Nobody's jealous or anything.
(H/T NFL.com)
