I have never been confused with a great dancer. Chances are if I tried any ballroom dancing, it’s safe to say no one would be safe out there.

I’ve run for more than 30 years, but that’s all been running forward.

Sideways, twists, flips, turns, twirls? Forget it.

So, what Hines Ward has been able to do these past few weeks on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars has been nothing short of amazing.

Granted, he’s a professional athlete, so he always keeps himself in tiptop shape, but dancing is a different animal. There’s a lot of coordination involved, a lot of which is nothing like Ward has seen on a football field.

I can’t tell you the difference between a lot of dances, but it’s not easy and from what I’ve seen, he makes it look so easy — which it’s not.

After Monday’s first-round championship performance, Ward and his partner Kym Johnson, were tied for first. He’s in competition with actresses Chelsea Kane and Kirstie Alley.

That’s just how Ward sees it, too — as a competition. At no point did he think of this as easy, something to keep him in shape during the offseason.

If you’ve seen Ward on the football field — and you all know you have — he takes nothing lightly. He didn’t see this as a lark.

I’m sure he didn’t want to embarrass himself and wanted to make his mother proud, but believe it, he wanted to win from the beginning.

So when the dancing duo tried to up their game and try some more spectacular moves, Ward fell on Johnson and injured her neck.

If you saw the clip, then you know how nasty it was. The fact she’s up and dancing again says quite a bit about her.

Ward’s emotion was real — what else would you expect from him? Remember when Steelers teammate Jerome Bettis contemplated retirement before coming back one more year and winning the Super Bowl?

The outpouring of emotion when he talked about her as well as when they performed their dance after her injury made a huge statement.

Basically, he’s just as impressed with Johnson as he would be with any of his teammates. Working through discomfort and pain to try and help him win is inspiring.

And Ward has said he’d like to win it for Johnson, who has helped him so much and pushed him to excel and want this just as bad.

I don’t know how this will all play out tonight. Perhaps Kane, the Disney actress, will prevail and get the young audience vote. Alley could impress and draw the middle age vote, someone most Americans can relate to.

Then there’s Ward, an athlete who can draw sports fans’ votes, but has shown he can go from no experience to one of the best performers the show has ever seen.

Ward and Johnson? Sounds like a winning team to me.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.