Hines Ward's Biggest 'Dancing' Fear

Contrary to "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Hines Ward's lethal reputation on the football field, he's far from fearless as he revealed to ET's Mark Steines before tonight's big performance.

"My biggest fear is the judges really haven't said anything negative to me yet," Hines said with a chuckle. "I wanna go out there and make sure they don't."

Hines and pro partner Kym Johnson led the "Dancing" pack last week, scoring 27 out of 30 and the Super Bowl champion shared some of the secrets to their success saying, "You have to have that rapport not just in the ballroom but outside. Being in L.A., I really don't know anybody so I'm always, 'Hey, take me here. Take me here,' and I think having that chemistry shows up in the dance routines."

While Hines seems focused on cradling the season 12 mirror ball trophy, he also would like to be cradling his seven-year-old son Jaden who lives in Georgia.

"I really didn't know what all it entailed of me being out here -- putting in seven hours a day, six days a week and not being able to see [my son] like I want to," Hines said. "Because our off season's so short this dance competition's taking up my whole off season. So, I'm sacrificing that but at the long haul if we can walk away with the mirror ball trophy it'll be all worth it."

Since Hines plays football in Pittsburgh, the off season is his main chance to spend time with his son. Hines recalled feeling ostracized when he was around Jaden's age because of his biracial background, prompting him to found the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation.

"It was really hard for me to blend in," said Hines. "The white kids really didn't want to hang out with me because I was black. The Korean kids didn't want to hang out with me because I was black. The black kids didn't want to hang out with me because I was Korean so I had a hard time struggling, trying to fit in with the certain groups until I got involved with sports."

The Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation is dedicated to ending discrimination against biracial children all over the world as well as assisting the educational progress of underprivileged children in the Pittsburgh and Atlanta areas.

Watch "Dancing with the Stars" tonight on ABC.