Crazy football crowd? That didn’t scare DeMarcus Ware like the first tee does

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Nevada — DeMarcus Ware played in front of 90,000 screaming fans as a pro football player with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos.

Ware, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer, won a Super Bowl with the Broncos in the 2015 season.

But playing golf in the celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood still makes him a little uneasy, even in his sixth time at South Lake Tahoe.

Ware is part of the 93-player field this week in the 34th annual American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. The tournament takes place Friday through Sunday. Tickets for Saturday are sold out.

Ware, listed at 5,000-1 odds to win, says his golf game has slightly improved over the past six years, so those odds annoy him.

“It pisses me off a little bit. It’s 5,000 to 1. So they’re thinking I’m probably going to be at the back of the pack,” Ware said.

He admits to being a little nervous, but excited about playing in the ACC.

“It’s one of the most intimidating things. I’m used to coming through with 90,000 (fans) and it’s really loud. And I’m used to that. And you’re used to things (like) moving offensive linemen, quarterbacks talking — but when you’re up there (on the tee box) you’re singled out,” Ware said. “When you get up over that tee and that’s your first swing, everybody’s totally quiet.

“So it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, is everybody waiting on that result for me to hit that ball in the fairway?’ And it’s a narrow fairway because of the fans to the right and fans to the left. And I can spray that thing. It can go either way, left or right.”

Ware has been working with a golf coach to help his game.

“Been really dialing in on where to hit the ball, strategy of the game, because you know you can play better because when you play with the guys you have the shots but you just don’t finish. Now it’s all about finishing. You can’t go out there and three-putt. That doesn’t work,” Ware said.

He said the first time a player gets hit in a football game it cranks up his adrenaline. But in golf, there is some trepidation about the first shot.

“(You) get comfortable. And now you’re, like, ‘OK, cool, I got this, I’m actually walking,’ and you don’t have to worry about it,” Ware said.

Ware said the Broncos should be a sleeper pick to win the Super Bowl this season, thanks to new head coach Sean Payton opening up the offense for Russell Wilson.

“They’ve been playing a lot from behind and still been able to win football games. So now if they can get ahead and the pass rush can actually turn on a little bit, I think the team is going to be a team where they’re, like, ‘Hold on, wait a minute. That’s the Denver Broncos? That’s the team that last year didn’t play like they should,’” Ware said. “So I think this year is going to be a total turnaround, especially with Sean Payton. I played with him in Dallas. I played against him when he was coaching at the Saints. I think it’s going to be a perfect thing for the Denver Broncos.”

Ware said as his Hall of Fame induction gets closer (Aug. 5) the more he rewrites his speech, having changed it about 10 or 12 times already.

He said narrowing down his career to the 10-12 minutes he will get to speak is challenging.

“You can’t fill your speech up with names. You’ve got to fill it up with either experiences or things that will stick in people’s minds, so when you leave that stage you know exactly what you said is meant and they know exactly why you were up there and how you got to the point to where you were,” Ware said.