Before taking the sideline Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, first-year Jets offensive assistant Hines Ward expressed how badly he wanted to beat his former team -- the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"I want to win," Ward said Friday. "I want to be beat the Steelers as much as anybody in this building. Trust me. I'm telling my guys they've got to win this one for me. I want the Gatorade shower and all that if we win."

The former Steelers wide receiver from 1998-2011 got his wish when Week 16 arrived as New York (6-9) held Pittsburgh (8-7) off, 16-10. After the game, his wish was granted when he got the Gatorade bath from wide receiver Braxton Berrios.

Hines Ward wanted it. He got it. 💦

(via @RTaub_) pic.twitter.com/pjrg6TgXSZ
- Jets Videos (@snyjets) December 23, 2019

Head coach Adam Gase said that the move was in fact planned.

"We talked about it before the game, that we wanted to make sure he got his W and he'd be a happy camper," Gase said of Ward.

In his first season with the Jets after he arrived over the summer as a coaching intern, Ward has mentored New York's wide receivers.

Ward logged 217 career games with the Steelers, catching 1,000 passes for 12,083 yards (12.1 per reception) and 85 touchdowns while winning Super Bowls XL (2006) and XLIII (2009).

After he retired from his 14-year playing career, Ward was an intern in Pittsburgh and most recently worked as a player relations executive for the now-defunct Alliance of American Football (AAF).

"That was special to him," said wide receiver Jamison Crowder. "He mentioned that throughout the week in our wide receiver meetings -- he wanted to beat those guys. He said he wanted to get it, really bad. I know that win is special for him."

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