Here's a nice interview with Hines Ward following the Steelers' 2011 Super Bowl loss to the Packers on Sunday. As you might expect, it sounds like the loss was hard on Ward, whose desire to win one last Super Bowl was probably intensified by the fact that he's in the twilight of his career.
↵↵↵"It's tough," Ward said. "I was really depressed. I didn't want to watch TV because all you saw was Green Bay and stuff. It hurts more I think because we had an opportunity to win the game.
↵"Anybody who turns the ball over three times and still has an opportunity to win shows a lot about the team. But we didn't play our best ball. That's disappointing for me personally because for big games I just knew we would step up big, but we didn't do that on Sunday."
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Ward will have two surgeries in the coming week, one for damage to cartilage in his knee, and one for a torn thumb ligament. Other Steelers, such as fellow wideout Emmanuel Sanders, will have surgery as well, as they try to repair the damage a brutal sport does on their bodies. As the author of the article linked above points out, though, the physical pain probably pales in comparison to the pain of what they must be thinking right now.