‘Get in the shower’ Calvin Ridley trolls Cam Ward after the Titans QB breaks ping pong paddle after losing in locker room
A valuable illustration from a broken ping pong paddle
Every time I think I’ve wrapped my head around how sick in the head Cam Ward is as a competitor, I realize I’m still underestimating it.
The Tennessee Titans’ new franchise QB is known for his one-track mind. Ever since the world was introduced to him as a draft prospect, he’s been talked about by coaches and teammates in the same way John Wick is described at the beginning of the first movie: “a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will.”
This week during Mandatory Minicamp, he’s shown us that. His competitive nature comes out when he barks at his teammates, commanding the skill players on offense or jawing back and forth with defenders who want to talk smack. He seems to have an edge to him that’s noisy in all the right ways.
On WR Calvin Ridley’s instagram story shortly after minicamp ended, he poked fun at his new QB after beating him in a game of ping pong in the locker room. Cam lost, and… he really doesn’t like losing. So he broke the paddle.
“Hey, that’s what I love to see” Ridley says, pointing at the broken ping pong paddle. Then the camera pans to Ward, storming off towards the showers. “He’s got enough money though. You’ve got money! I’ve got him breaking it! Get in the shower!”
Broken ping pong paddles, Instagram stories from players. Peak summer content, right? Well, yes. But also, it’s not nothing! This is just who Cam Ward is. And it’s a peek behind the curtain on how this singularly-minded competitor operates in his daily life. Competing and winning is all he knows. It’s all he accepts. It’s the kind of legend that grows for the great ones. It reminds me a lot of the borderline psychotic stories you hear about Joe Burrow for example, another impossibly intense competitor.
Talk to enough people in the league, and they’ll tell you that you have to be insane to be a good NFL quarterback. It’s said tongue-in-cheek, but they’re only half joking.
Cam’s coaches are embracing his psycho energy. “Probably, on offense, that’s a little something we’ve needed” said offensive coordinator Nick Holz this week.
Cam demonstrates that edge before, during, and after the whistle. He’s been working extra every chance he gets, because it’s what he knows. He shows up to the facility at 5am and still stays late. On the final day of minicamp, he had all of us in the media waiting as he finished up an extra 20 or so minutes of individual work after practice. And yes, even when he workday was over, his competitive juices were still flowing enough to break a ping pong paddle in the locker room.
Tennessee Titans Mandatory Minicamp: Cam Ward testing our excitement, A brewing rookie revolution, key returning starters
The Youth, they are the future
