Cam Ward wasn’t supposed to reach this day.
How does a high school quarterback in a Wing-T offense become the presumed No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft?
Ward was a zero-star recruit. He got one Division I scholarship offer, from FCS program Incarnate Word.
Then he followed a winding path to Washington State before ending up at Miami and contending for the Heisman Trophy and getting here, to Thursday night and the NFL Draft’s opening round.
The Tennessee Titans are expected to make Ward the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday night.
Ward has a secret superpower, though, and that’s why he’s here.
“He’s trying to prove the world wrong every time he takes the field,” one of Ward’s former coaches told The Athletic in a new article out Wednesday.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Yes, that’s a common athlete mentality.
But for Ward, it has meant so much.
He always had a big arm, dating back to days as his high school’s challenging backup QB on the scout team as an underclassman.
But he didn’t get a chance to flex it all that much in those days in the run-heavy system.
Ward won the UIW starting job during the COVID-altered season from 2020 into 2021, then followed his recruiter up to Wazzu.
He kept putting together impressive tape, and it landed him a spot with the Hurricanes to chase this top spot in the draft.
On Thursday, Ward will have reached that pinnacle.
There’ll be more work to do, given that the Titans were awful last season and that Ward will be a rookie stepping into a whole new situation.
But given his desire to prove all those early doubters wrong, don’t expect Ward to slow down anytime soon.
MORE NFL NEWS:
