SANTA CLARA — The day following the 2018 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys signed an undrafted cornerback from Middle Tennessee named Charvarius Ward.
But Ward never made it to the regular season with the Cowboys.
Four months after he signed, Dallas traded Ward to the Kansas City Chiefs for an offensive lineman who never played a single game for the Cowboys.
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“Do I hold a grudge? Nah,” Ward said Thursday in front of his locker inside Levi’s Stadium. “I won a Super Bowl in Kansas City and played hella good in Kansas City, and I got a great contract here in San Francisco. So I’m happy with the way my career’s been going.
"They saw the value of me in Kansas City. And it’s probably the best thing that happened to my career."
Ward will go up against the team that let him get away when the 49ers face Dallas in an intriguing Sunday night matchup between two NFC heavyweights.
Ward spent only a short time with the Cowboys, but he credits then-Dallas defensive backs coach Kris Richard for teaching him technique and being a positive influence. He also remembers an impressive facility and some tasty chicken tenders in the team cafeteria.
San Francisco 49ers
Early in training camp that year, he made another indelible memory when he intercepted a pass from quarterback Dak Prescott.
“Yeah, I got his ass,” Ward said. “I got him in a game, too. Dak’s my boy.”
Ward’s official interception against Prescott came in 2021, when Ward came down in the end zone with a pass intended for CeeDee Lamb late in the first half of Kansas City’s 19-9 victory.
Although it might not have felt like it at the time, Ward said getting traded was a blessing. But when he arrived in Kansas City, he thought he was in an uphill battle to hold onto a job.
“I got traded on the last day of preseason, so I’m wondering how the hell am I going to make the team in Kansas City?” Ward said. “I talked to (Chiefs general manager) Brett Veach and he told me he saw me as their cornerback of the future.
“And that’s what I was for like four years.”
Last year, the 49ers signed Ward to a three-year, $40.5 million contract as an unrestricted free agent.
Ward is already brimming with self-assuredness. He said those plays he’s made against Prescott in the past do not give him any additional swagger heading into Sunday night’s game.
“I got confidence against everybody,” he said. “This game, it’s just another game for us. I’m going to go out there and do my best and see if we get the W.”