Hines Ward caught five passes for 123 yards and one TD in the Steelers' victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

By James Quintong

Jerome Bettis may have been the story in the United States leading up to Super Bowl XL. But on the other side of the world, Koreans geared up for the game to cheer for another Steeler -- the Seoul-born Hines Ward.

After Ward caught five passes for 123 yards and a long touchdown reception in the Steelers' victory, he wasn't just the toast of Pittsburgh -- he became an international celebrity. He also earned the distinction of becoming the first Korean-American to win Super Bowl MVP honors.

Sure, Ward did the requisite Disney trip, but he would embark on a much more important journey a few months later when he returned to his birth country for the first time since moving to America as an infant. He got the royal treatment in South Korea, yet it seemed ironic that his birth country would treat him as such given his background.

Because of a strict social registry in Korea, the country has a dubious history of discriminating against those of mixed racial heritage, which would include Ward, born to a Korean mother and an African-American father. Ward's mother, Kim Young-hee, said she faced discrimination in Korea because of her son, a major reason they moved to the U.S. not long after his birth. Ward said that even as a kid in the Atlanta suburbs, he would face teasing from "full-blooded" Koreans for his mixed heritage.

Granted, it took time for Ward to embrace his Korean heritage. His parents divorced soon after moving to the U.S. and he didn't join his mother until grade school (she was originally denied custody because she spoke little English). And it took a while for Ward to appreciate his mother's sacrifices in raising him -- the work ethic she instilled in him was evident in the way he approached his football career both at the University of Georgia and with the Steelers. His mother played a major part in his development yet she was being shunned by her own home country.

Armed with this newfound celebrity in Korea, Ward suddenly became an advocate for social reform. He spoke with South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun to press for the end of discrimination. He arranged a number of "hope-sharing" meetings with mixed-race children in Korea. In May, he donated $1 million to start the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation to assist mixed-race children in both Korea and the United States. Remarkably, it was an athlete from an American sport that impacted social change in South Korea.

While Ward plays a position that may associate him with characters such as Terrell Owens and Randy Moss, he seems to be taking more after Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe. And for that he gets my vote for Sportsman of the Year.