'I've seen people do that and try to fake it' – Insider shares untold story that tells Titans fans all they need to know about Cam Ward
Nothing is official yet, but the expectation is that the Tennessee Titans will select Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night in Green Bay. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday morning that there's been "real trade interest" in the No. 1 overall […]
Nothing is official yet, but the expectation is that the Tennessee Titans will select Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night in Green Bay.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday morning that there's been "real trade interest" in the No. 1 overall pick, but the Titans "never opened the door" to entertain the idea of trading down.
Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi confirmed on Tuesday that Tennessee isn't trading the No. 1 overall pick.
Ward is viewed by most draft analysts as the top overall quarterback in this year's draft, but he's not necessarily viewed as a "sure thing".
One unnamed NFL general manager, in fact, told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Ward would be the No. 7 overall quarterback in last year's draft.
If you're a Titans fan and you're a bit nervous about Ward after hearing the comments made to Schefter, then a couple of previously untold stories that Late Kick's Josh Pate shared on 104.5 The Zone's The Buck Reising Show on Tuesday should ease your concerns.
Pate, who has been granted exclusive access at Miami on occasion, shared a couple of stories that give a great behind-the-scenes look at Ward's natural ability to be an elite leader — something that can't be faked or forced.
"So I'm down there (at Miami), he's been on campus I want to say 48 hours at the point I'm down there, and I'm watching him coach his team," explained Pate. "It's player led workouts. Coaches aren't even out there…I don't know how to describe this other than to say, if you were watching a general command troops, that's what it was like watching him. It was like watching a big brother and a bunch of little brothers, and the way that you would talk to a family member who is the little version of you. He's talking to lineman like that. He's talking to everyone on the team like that. And I'm looking at it, and I'm just talking with a couple of guys administratively, and I'm saying, 'what is happening?' And they said, 'that's just what he was like the moment he walked in'.
"And so I sat there, I watched the whole workout, and you would have thought the guy was a fourth-year starter and knew everyone. Because there's a way that you have to earn the right to talk to somebody. Like, you and I can joke around in a way that if a production assistant is walking down the hall, he would never be able to talk to you. Well, it was that times 100 with Cam Ward. And so Xavier Restrepo, an All-American receiver, he's been there [at Miami] for a long time. Not only is he getting dog cussed by Cam Ward, it's almost a yes sir/no sir response to him. And he's been there for 48 hours. So I just watched that in awe, because the thing about it is, he had not produced for them yet. He hadn't played a down for them yet, and he just walks in with that kind of swagger. And not only did he do it, I've seen people do that try and fake it, because I've seen the guys that they want to be leaders, and they try and be vocal leaders, and it's so fake. You can see through that in two seconds. There are guys whose dads just drive them to practice and say, 'you need to be more vocal today, you need to be a vocal leader'. Well, if you are, you are. If you're not, you're not. And it's like seeing through cellophane wrap if a guy tries to be that. And then you got guys like this who are just born to be that."
"So later in the year, I'm down there again," continued Pate. "It's the middle of the season, latter portion of the season, this guy is wired a little differently. I'm just telling you, the way he carries himself is a little bit different. It's not performative at all. It's just kind of emanates off of him. So he's in the running for the Heisman. He doesn't know how the Heisman process works. He's never been through it before. Most people haven't. So I'm sitting with the sports information department down there, and they actually get a letter. We're sitting there in real time, the mail comes in, and it is a letter from the Heisman Trust. Which, by the way, is pretty wild when you see the packaging those letters are delivered in. So they just wrapped up practice. Cam is kind of walking off (the field), and he walks down the tunnel or whatever, and the SID down there tells one of the assistants, 'go grab him right quick, I got mail for him'. And so he walks back over. And it was the letter that the Heisman Trust sends out in, I guess, November — not to let you know you're a finalist, but to let you know you're probably going to be a finalist. It's like you're one of our watch list guys. And so they're all excited, you know, because this is the first time Cam Ward's gotten mail from the Heisman. [They] can't wait to see his reaction….and he opens it up and says, 'what is this?'
"He does not know anyone's watching. I'm telling you, it's just the way he reacted. He looked at it and said, 'what is this?' And they said, 'well, it's from the Heisman. He said, 'I'm a finalist?' And they said, 'well, you're not a finalist, you're just being informed that you're in the running'. And he wadded it up — this is really nice paper, man, it's got the Heisman Trust seal on it, it looks like a wedding invitation — and he wads the thing up and throws it away. I'm gonna leave out some words, he goes, 'let me know when I'm a finalist'. And they're looking at me because I just happen to be there, and they said, 'that's the way he's been all year, we don't really mess with him, this is the way he's been all year'."
Being an elite leader is a requirement to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. But that's not a quality that can necessarily be learned. Sure, some guys can improve their leadership abilities over time. But the natural ability to draw people in without trying is something that can't be taught. It's a trait that the best quarterbacks in history of the league have possessed without trying (from Joe Montana to Tom Brady to Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow). And based on Pate's intel about Ward, it's something that the future quarterback of the Titans absolutely has.
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