Cam Ward’s ‘crazy story’ led him to the Miami Hurricanes. Will it end in greatness?
As Cam Ward reflects on the story he has chronicled to this point, he can’t help but smile. He was always confident he would get to this point, even if the path was longer than expected and the odds may have been against him. The quarterback thinks back to when he was a kid — 4, maybe 5 years old — when he would pick up a basketball, set up cones around the house and “dribble myself to sleep.” The childhood dream of making it to the NBA switched to goals of the NFL in due time, but the passion, dedication and commitment to his craft never wavered. The trials and tribulations and winding path to success that came with it have helped him grow physically, mentally and emotionally. “I’ve been blessed with this journey,” Ward said. “I don’t take anything for granted, but I take advantage of every opportunity I get.” So watch closely as the final chapter of Ward’s college football career unfolds. It begins Aug. 31 when the No. 19 Miami Hurricanes face the Florida Gators in Gainesville. It’s the last passage of a tale that began five years ago when there was uncertainty if Ward’s story would be written at all. At that point, Ward was nowhere to be found on the high school recruiting rankings when he graduated from Texas’ Columbia High. He was a zero-star quarterback recruit who had just one offer to play college football at the Football Championship Subdivision level.
“And now,” Ward said, “I’m here.” Here is the University of Miami, his third home in his college football journey that started at FCS Incarnate Word and continued with two years at Washington State before finally landing in Coral Gables this offseason. Here is finally being recognized for the talent that he knew he had all along but took awhile to properly showcase. Ward has already been named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, tabbed to a slew of award watch lists and is viewed as a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate. Hurricanes fans are looking at him to be the savior for a program that has not seen a national championship since 2001.
And here is where Ward will author the conclusion of his collegiate career. It’s an ending that will come on his own terms after he decided to delay his shot at the NFL for one more season on the college gridiron. “It’s a crazy story,” Ward said, “but I’m not close to being done yet.”