The Great Disrespecting Of Cam Ward
Is it possible to feel bad for a #1 overall pick? They are achieving a monumental dream. Being the first overall pick is an astounding honor and places you in the history books, even if you end up a bust. You are on the brink of making millions of dollars. Pretty much everyone who follows the sport with interest will know your name. Yeah, the position comes with an insane level of expectation that may wear you down, but not in that moment. That glorious moment of walking across the stage, of being the first man picked. Can you feel true pity for a man in that position? Even if they are going to the Browns or something?
I felt pity for Cam Ward during this past draft. Because I barely even saw him. I was watching the ESPN broadcast (mistake #1, but NFL network did the same thing to a lesser degree) and They spent significantly more time talking about Shedeur during the Titans segment than they did the man who was actually picked.
The lack of coverage before the draft was expected. When a player becomes the obvious guaranteed #1 pick a month before the big night, like Ward did, they become significantly less interesting to discuss. The draft is an entertainment product now, and people like to discuss the drama. The unknowns are far more invigorating than the knowns. Once we knew Cam Ward was a Titan, I am not surprised Shedeur Sanders became the #1 talking point (if he wasn’t already). Shedeur was more of a wildcard. We didn’t know where he would go. We didn’t see anyone talking about Will Campbell either because most agreed he was going to be the Patriots pick at #4.
What surprised me was how blatantly ESPN turned Cam Ward’s moment into Sanders Hour. Yeah, Sanders was the hot topic, the click generator, the person many of us were watching with great interest. But when a guy gets picked, especially in the first round, ESPECIALLY #1 overall…they should get some actual coverage before the next pick. Mel Kiper spent more time talking about how Shedeur was his number 1 guy and they showed Shedeur highlights while Cam was walking up to the podium to have his moment. What the fuck? Talk about Sanders during his pick, or during some of the later downtimes, why are you just paving over Cam Ward like this. What did Cam Ward do to not deserve his 10 minutes of broadcast praise? ESPN had no idea at the time that Shedeur wasn’t going to get picked for another 2 days, they had to expect Shedeur to be off the board that night, as most of us did. Save your talk package for then, you fucks! Give Cam his due, and talk about Shedeur when necessary. Half of the general public’s enjoyment of Shedeur’s slide was probably due to seeing Mel Kiper and ESPN lose their minds about it.
I’m certainly also guilty of this entire thing, my first post-draft comic was about Shedeur too. You gravitate towards what people wanna talk about.
Cam Ward seems like a cool guy. He’s got a good story, albiet not exactly a unique one, about a poor zero-star recruit kid who didn’t get much respect who kept grinding until he did. In some ways it’s almost fitting that a guy who got looked past for most of his football playing life is continuing to get ignored even in a moment of triumph, as the QB for a perpetually overlooked team. I have my doubts about him as a prospect and the Titans are not a well-run organization right now but I have hope for the guy to just keep his story going.
With all the talk about different draft broadcasts, it’s probably worth giving a shout to the College Gameday crew who were running the ABC Broadcast of the draft. They also got caught up in the Shedeur talk given how sensational the drop was, but for the most part they kept it very focused on each individual pick and actually talked about Cam Ward when he was selected. The only annoying thing I can remember about that crew is Nick Saban feeling compelled to mention how literally every single pick was on Alabama’s radar when he was still coaching, but that’s basically nothing compared to the shitshow that was the ESPN broadcast and Saban at least followed it up with some solid analysis.
Admittedly, I’ve been watching that version of the broadcast for a couple of years now, so I missed the entirety of Mel Kiper’s meltdown. Guess it worked out for me? Funny because I don’t even hate Mel Kiper like that, but hey, I’ll take it.
Cam Ward was a 0 star recruit coming out of a small high school in Texas. His only offer was from an FCS school called Incarnate World. He fought his way up the depth chart, to be able to start as a freshman, only for his debut to be delayed because of COVID. He ended up winning the award for best FCS Freshman of the Year after just 6 games. He led Incarnate World to their first ever playoff win in his sophomore year and transferred to Washington State. Despite putting up good numbers, Washington State struggled in his 2 years there, going 12-13 as a starter. He transferred to on a Miami football program that hasn’t been relevant for 2 decades and led them to their highest College Football Playoff ranking ever.
But you probably know none of that because he’s not Shedeur.