Hines Ward really has to be kicking himself over his recent DUI arrest, even moreso than people typically kick themselves over DUI arrests. He's just weeks removed from winning Dancing With The Stars, and from a rally thrown in Pittsburgh to celebrate his victory.
For Ward, Dancing With The Stars wasn't all about dancing. It was about fame. Ward once said that he "couldn't buy this kind of exposure." In participating in Dancing With The Stars, he was broadening his fanbase (and, specifically, targeting females) and changing his image (from a scrappy, blue-collar player who fans of many teams viewed as dirty, to something more wholesome).
Right now, it's unclear what Ward was planning. Perhaps he wanted to do more reality TV, or become a football commentator. Whatever he was trying to do, he was doing a brilliant job of it, since Dancing With The Stars raised his profile to the roof, and almost all the additional exposure he got was positive
But with his DUI arrest, he undid all that. Now his best hope of making people forget is to succeed at football, but at his age, his football career could be over within a couple of years, and his best years are likely behind him.
It's the timing of this arrest that must sting the most. This happened right after Ward's Dancing With The Stars victory. What an awful lapse in judgment.