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Zero Star: The Cam Ward Story - Season 1 Episode 2
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00:00Previously on Zero Star...
00:16Cameron has inspired so many young athletes.
00:21His story is a story of inspiration.
00:24It's a story of good work ethic.
00:27I grew up with a basketball in my hands.
00:29That dream just set to make it to the NBA.
00:31I ended up transitioning into quarterback.
00:33My second year playing with my dad,
00:35he's the first one that taught me to throw a football.
00:37I feel like that's where, you know, the story started.
00:39A lot of people see what he does on the field now,
00:42but you don't see the backyard.
00:43It was frustrating seeing that he wasn't getting recruited
00:46because I've never seen a talent like this.
00:48The ball coming out of his hands was like a different sound
00:50than I had ever heard.
00:52I got one offer.
00:54Yes, it's the FCS. Yes, it's kind of unheard of.
00:57No one knows where Incarnate Word is.
00:59They probably think you're lying to them,
01:00talking about you go to Incarnate Word,
01:01like stop playing with me, that type of thing.
01:04But here's a guy that shows up day one as a freshman and got busy.
01:09How do you give the game to a goal?
01:13Go, go, go, go, go.
01:15Ward, he's under pressure.
01:17He throws.
01:18Caught.
01:19Ward plenty of time going deep down the field.
01:22Ward gets rid of it.
01:24Touchdown!
01:27On offense.
01:28Now Ward gonna throw it for the first time.
01:30Looks one way.
01:31Back the other.
01:32Ward's gonna take off.
01:33Diving!
01:34Touchdown, Cam Ward!
01:35What are we going?
01:42For Cameron, UIW wasn't just the next step in his journey,
01:46but instead it was a place to show who he really is.
01:50When I got to UIW, it was a learning curve for sure,
01:53but once I got it, once I knew the system, knew all of that,
01:56they allowed me to just play within how I see the field.
02:00Blitz!
02:01Ward fires!
02:02Caught!
02:03Farrell!
02:04Touchdown!
02:05And they allowed me to just make checks at the line of scrimmage.
02:07They allowed me to really process information at my own pace.
02:11They allowed me to, you know, just motivate guys around me,
02:15and also with the offensive coordinator and Coach Morris,
02:18there were times where I'd go in their office and I would tell them,
02:21like, this is what I like, and he's calling it.
02:23There's times where I want to feel like, if I don't like it,
02:25he's not going to call it.
02:26Like, every week in practice, like, if I threw a pick on that playing practice,
02:30we're not running that in the game.
02:31I was able to express myself more at UIW.
02:34And just the zip and the whistle that would, the ball would come off of his hand,
02:39and his ability to make all the different throws,
02:41it was just kind of like one of those things where, you know,
02:44you raise your eyebrow a little bit.
02:45It's like, that looked pretty good.
02:47Another throw for Ward.
02:49Caught!
02:50Grimes trying to get to the corner.
02:53He's got it. Touchdown.
02:55So he got here in the fall of 2020, and obviously that was a crazy time across the globe.
02:59The fall of 2020 actually acted like a spring for us.
03:03I think we had about 15 or 16 practices, no games scheduled.
03:07You know, we had to do all the social distancing and everything,
03:10all the restrictions COVID brought us.
03:12But we were able to actually get out there and compete, which was tremendous for that class.
03:17Get that inside like that.
03:19COVID didn't slow down Cam.
03:21He saw it as an opportunity to outpace his competition.
03:25We didn't actually play that fall season.
03:27So I think, you know, as we got into fall camp, we were revving up.
03:30And then they actually ended up canceling the season.
03:33So we got a chance to keep our kids there the whole entire semester.
03:37And we practiced every single day.
03:39And we two-spotted practice because we had to be spread apart.
03:42The social justice movement kind of paired in with this.
03:46I think it's been a great time for us to kind of find a way to unify.
03:50The FCS had a unique thing where they played in the spring.
03:53We were all sitting inside.
03:55And so we kind of needed something to watch.
03:57FCS was like, you know, we'll play in the spring.
03:59So they played six games in the spring.
04:00So that was the first time we got to see Cam Ward.
04:03His first game was against McNeese.
04:06And McNeese at the time was like 16th in the country.
04:08And I'm watching the game.
04:09I'm like, why is Incarnate Ward kicking their ass?
04:12Like, it was crazy how often he was out there balling on offense.
04:18So it was a monumental upset.
04:20They didn't just beat them by, like, the last-second field goal.
04:23They beat the brakes off McNeese.
04:25Touchdown!
04:26His arm talent was just insane.
04:28Every week, it was putting up 30 points plus a game
04:31with Cam Ward throwing the football with the most arrogant.
04:35Whoa!
04:36Side arm.
04:37The most confident.
04:38Touchdown!
04:39Touchdown!
04:40The most insane.
04:41Blitz.
04:42Ward fires up the middle.
04:43Chafin the catch.
04:44Cocky.
04:45Ward going deep.
04:46Explosive arm that you've ever seen.
04:47Touchdown!
04:48And I'm like, Cam Ward might be the truth.
04:49You know what I'm saying?
04:50So that's how fast things was happening in that fall season
04:53to where I'm like, he's a legit pro prospect.
04:56This dude is different based on how he's cooking these guys.
04:59These throws translate.
05:01Chafin rolling out to the end zone.
05:03Touchdown!
05:04Ward's play started to turn heads.
05:06Including those who some would consider football gods.
05:10I'm a big college football fan.
05:11Big college football.
05:12I watch it every Saturday.
05:14Because I love to see kids' journeys.
05:17And to see Cam's journey.
05:19I said he's already prepared.
05:20He's a grown man.
05:21You know, I think Cam has always been really coachable.
05:24You can coach him really hard.
05:26He's a gunslinger.
05:27And the one thing is he does have a short memory.
05:30And he's able to rebound.
05:31And he wants that ball back in his hands as fast as humanly possible.
05:35Some quarterbacks you can't raise your voice to.
05:38You can't curse at.
05:39You can't give them the business after they do make a mistake.
05:42I think he actually thrives in those situations.
05:45Blitz.
05:46Scrambles and fires.
05:48Down the sideline.
05:49Biggie's wide open.
05:50Now a foot race.
05:52Touchdown!
05:55Seeing him going out there and lighting it up the way he did that spring season.
05:58I was very familiar with him and figured out that he was right outside of Houston.
06:02I actually originally thought he was a little too far, you know, to come train with me at that time.
06:06But as I got to know him, distance wasn't nothing for him.
06:10So his dad reached out to me and it was, he came out here.
06:15We got some work in and we've been rolling ever since.
06:19You know, I always ask Cameron and he would tell you when he was at UIW,
06:23when he come to the hotel room the nights before the game, I would always ask him,
06:27Cameron, what's your goal?
06:28What's your goal for tomorrow's game?
06:30And he would give me a goal.
06:31Meet your goal.
06:32And you know what?
06:33I feel like this.
06:34Not on the camera.
06:35If you set your goals high enough, you'll meet those goals if you work hard enough.
06:39And he did.
06:40He came out and competed every single day.
06:43Every single throw.
06:44It's not a throw that he's making that's just getting another rep.
06:47Every single throw that he's trying to make is to help himself get better
06:50and prepare for what he's trying to do.
06:52What came next for Cam was the highest level of achievement.
06:56The Jerry Rice Award given to the most outstanding freshman in all of the FCS ranks.
07:02And from that point on, Cam's phone would not stop buzzing with some of the biggest programs in the nation.
07:08So Cam, with the help of his family, decided to enter the transfer portal for the first time.
07:14I remember a coach at an SEC school telling me that if Cam Ward went into the portal, he had generational ability.
07:22I remember thinking that was crazy at the time.
07:24I hadn't really seen him play other than some highlights in Incarnate Word.
07:27But I had multiple coaches bring him up as like a freak athlete and somebody to have on the radar.
07:33Once I had the portal, that's when everything blew up.
07:36That's when they started labeling me four or five stars coming out the portal.
07:40That's when everybody finally started doing their research about me.
07:43I had Big Ten teams calling ACC.
07:47For me, it was more of where can I be successful and where am I going to be giving the keys to the kingdom to play freely,
07:55how I've been doing the past season at UIW.
07:58It's very overwhelming because you're thinking about all these big colleges are calling for Cameron.
08:03You felt like, hey, somebody has finally seen what this kid has worked for to prove.
08:08As we got into the recruiting process up there at Washington State, it was interesting because Coach Dickert was always nervous
08:17are we going to get Cam or not.
08:18Because at that time, I'm on the phone with Cam and, hey, Coach, wait just a sec.
08:22Lane Kiffin is FaceTiming me right now.
08:25And then obviously at that time, you know,
08:28Ole Miss is offering a little bit better package for a kid to come play than Washington State was at the time.
08:35But it was more about loyalty.
08:36I mean, Cam didn't listen to the numbers.
08:38He didn't listen to, you know, the house he was going to live in, the cars he was going to drive, all those different things.
08:43Like, he believed in what we were able to do with him development-wise.
08:47And then he loved the offense and to be able to be in charge and put the ball in play with his arm the majority of the time.
08:54Just the attitude that he had, the way he prepared himself, the way he went to work, the way he competed every day that I seen him.
09:01I always knew that he had the opportunity to play in the NFL when he was at UIW.
09:04But I think it got real when he went to Washington State and he just turned it up another notch.
09:11I knew going to Washington State, I was familiar with Coach Morris.
09:15He was the only coach to offer me a scholarship out of high school.
09:18And, you know, I'm going there to be the starter.
09:21I'm going there to lead a team who needs a quarterback, who's actually produced quarterbacks in the NFL.
09:28Shout out to Drew Bledsoe, but no one really knew what Washington State was all about.
09:33And this is what makes Cam Ward such a great quarterback prospect is decision-making, right?
09:38So the decision to go from Incarnate Word to Washington State makes a lot of sense when you think about who believes in me as the person and then as the player.
09:48Because this coach brought me into Incarnate Word when no one believed.
09:52And we made Incarnate Word the place to be.
09:54I mean, they legitimately, going back to Incarnate Word, were cooking folks in the FCS, right?
09:59And so then he goes to Washington State.
10:01Granted, it's Washington State.
10:03No one really knew what Washington State was all about.
10:05And, hey, if you're Cam Ward, y'all saying I can't play at the FBS level, at the Power Five level?
10:12All right, cool.
10:13Here's an opportunity.
10:14I don't care what they offer me.
10:15I know the coach, which is why I love Cam's story so much,
10:18is because it really gets back to the basics of old school recruiting.
10:23Find a talent, cultivate a talent, develop a talent.
10:26And so when he brought him along with him at Washington State, I believe in the coach.
10:32The coach believes in me.
10:33We can hit the ground running.
10:34I know the offense.
10:35I'm going to show you guys that I can play at the Power Five FBS level.
10:41I don't care if I'm, you know, not in the SEC.
10:44I want to show you guys that what you saw me do in San Antonio
10:47definitely travels rather well up to Pullman, Watson.
10:51Washington State, a school located in what feels like a different stratosphere from UIW in Texas,
10:58may have just been the best transitional step for Cam on his journey.
11:02I really didn't know what to expect when I went to the Wazoo.
11:05I went on a visit there and there was nothing but snow everywhere.
11:08I mean, I seen snow probably two times, three times down my lifestyle.
11:12One time in Texas, another time we went to Colorado, Utah to go visit.
11:17But a lot of people, a lot of people don't know what to expect when they go to Wazoo.
11:21And, you know, the only thing there is football.
11:23You go there for football.
11:24You're not going there to go out or nothing.
11:27Because you're, the closest city you are is an hour and a half away, Spokane.
11:31So you're in the middle of nowhere.
11:33You're right there on the border of Idaho.
11:35So it's us and Idaho football right there.
11:37So we're the only two football schools.
11:39But you go to Wazoo, you go there to play football and that's it.
11:43Our relationship even grew when we got to Pullman
11:46just because I looked at it almost like he was my son a little bit more
11:49because I was taking him so far away from his comfort zone, a new environment, new traditions.
11:55And so I think that was a challenge that we took together
11:58and took great pride in going up there and battling our tails off
12:02and trying to win a ton of football games.
12:04The way that I saw Cam Ward lead that team down the field,
12:14not one time, not two times, not three times, every single time he had the ball.
12:20I've never seen in a long time a player so cool and calm on the pressure.
12:27Back to pass. Got him. Going deep.
12:31Touchdown Cougars.
12:34I think I can't work. Cam Ward right now.
12:36His quarterback rating is 267.3.
12:41That's good.
12:43At that time, Cam wasn't a household name.
12:45If you're not really paying attention to Pac-12 or Mountain West football
12:50or West Coast football at all, where he was, I mean, lighting it up.
12:53He'd thrown for 5,000 yards over 4,800, whatever it is, give or take.
12:57But, you know, you could tell upon looking at him and watching him,
13:00it doesn't take long to realize that he has a different level of talent.
13:06I was watching Cam Ward at Washington State.
13:12He made this beautiful, magical throw in that game.
13:18Heaven just landed in there and thought, God, how did he do that?
13:21And you watch the zip. And you watch his accuracy. And you watch his decision-making.
13:25And you watch how he manipulates defenses.
13:28A lot of quarterbacks don't manipulate defenses as well as that kid has.
13:32Cam's time at Washington State proved fruitful.
13:48More time learning under coach Eric Morris and then Ben Arbuckle,
13:53a country beginning to know his name.
13:55Stats comparable to the top names in college football.
13:59Cam's now the name to watch.
14:01But with draft grades reflecting day two, day three projections,
14:05was the draft the next move?
14:07Or maybe one more trip to the transfer portal and another new home?
14:12I think my time was done in Washington State.
14:14My plan was always to go there, play for two years,
14:17and put myself in the best situation to, you know, go to the NFL.
14:21And I think I accomplished that, especially coming from a wing T high school,
14:26actually, then going to FCS and prove myself there.
14:29And then I proved myself at the power five level.
14:31So I didn't think I owed anyone anything left at Washington State.
14:36But, I mean, when you get on that phone and you see all this crazy stuff
14:39that they're putting out there saying, you know, you got ten schools trying to offer that bread,
14:44you know, you better hit that portal and see what's really true out there.
14:47So, you know, I did that.
14:49But I also declared for the NFL draft.
14:51You ask him, and he can tell you this with a straight face,
14:54he felt like he should have been a top 12 pick.
14:56And I think he should feel that way.
14:58I'm happy he made the decision that he made.
15:00More breaking news coming out of the Pac-12.
15:03Cameron Ward enters the transfer portal to Washington State quarterback.
15:06Adam, what are your thoughts?
15:08Yeah, this is a big one in the quarterback class in the portal,
15:11even before it opens on Monday,
15:13is getting busier and busier with a lot of big names in there.
15:17This is going to be right at the top of the list.
15:20Talked to him probably once a week after he decided to officially get in the portal.
15:26And so the first of it was bouncing back.
15:28Hey, NFL versus staying, you know, at the college level,
15:32had some conversations with his dad as well, just about the pros and cons.
15:36And, you know, if they did stay in the NCAA, you know,
15:41trying to find the best fit and the best situation for him to walk into.
15:45And so, you know, Cam was pretty set on going to the NFL early in this thing.
15:50And he's a kid when he gets his mind made up on something,
15:53you know, all the reasons that make him great is because he's so damn stubborn.
15:57And when he sets his mind to something, you know,
15:59he's going to work his tail off to prove people wrong.
16:01And so he kind of had that mentality at the first of this.
16:04And so every conversation I had with him, even though I wanted to try to steer
16:08and open up his eyes a little bit towards thinking about staying
16:13and being able to capitalize, you know, on being able to make some money
16:17on your name, image, likeness while getting into a program
16:20where you can surround yourself with the pieces around him necessary to be successful.
16:25So the whole NIL thing right now, if we go by what it stands for, NIL, name, image, likeness.
16:38Cool. When I was in college playing college ball, that meant to me,
16:42if Joe's Burger wanted to give me a free burger for holding up this sign and saying,
16:46hey, come to Joe's Burger and get this free burger. Cool. Right.
16:50In college, all I cared about is free food and maybe some free clothes.
16:53Maybe I didn't understand my value. Right.
16:55But these kids now they're getting paid.
16:57So name, image and likeness is supposed to be to use your name, image and likeness
17:02for advertising or autographs or whatever video games.
17:06And they'll give you some some money. But name, image and likeness has turned from that to now.
17:13You got kids getting gold transams, negotiating million dollar bills, having all kind of fun
17:19that we as a former college athlete from a different era missed out on.
17:24Name, image and likeness payments went from small marketing deals to essentially pay for play via collectives
17:31at large schools. We went from $50,000 per offensive lineman at Texas being a huge story in the early days of NIL.
17:43I think they were called pancake. They got something for pancakes essentially.
17:46And that was just like this massive deal that Texas can pay offensive lineman,
17:51$50,000 each via its collectives. And now like the going rate for starting offensive lineman
17:57and college football at a larger school, especially it's like $500,000 plus.
18:03And the best ones are making the million dollars.
18:05I mean, when I first was getting recruited to college, NIL wasn't even a thing.
18:09So we would get our stipend check, right. That's like $200 a week.
18:14And I'd go fill up my tank of gas and maybe go get dinner. Right.
18:17And then really, it's just it's gone. So, you know, as the transfer portal and NIL kind of lined up,
18:25it's been a huge, a huge factor as players are deciding where they're going to play their college football.
18:30You know, so I think NIL has had a major, major impact on college football, especially over the last few years.
18:36I love NIL because it gives college kids options. In the case of Cam, without him becoming a five-star,
18:44there wouldn't be no NIL opportunities. He had to earn it.
18:48It was nuts. It was nuts. It was just everyone was wanting to know what Cam Ward was doing.
18:52It was limbo, right, because there was the NFL draft stuff, but it was also just Miami was always kind of lurking in there.
18:58I'll tell you what stood out most about Cam Ward. It wasn't just the flashy plays, the big throws, beating people with his feet.
19:06It was the fact that if Cam Ward had a bad play, like his next 25 plays were that of an absolute assassin, like total killer instinct.
19:17Like, I am pissed about that play, and I'm going to use that energy, and I'm going to go kick your butt with the next however many plays.
19:27That's what stood out about him. And so we got him on the phone, got him on an official visit, and then that's when the circus began.
19:33I had a little bit of background with him, but not a whole lot because he was going with emo to watch the state regardless.
19:40And so, but it was pretty clear to me after watching everything that he had the intangibles and skill set that we wanted.
19:48And some breaking news in the last couple of hours, former WSU quarterback Cameron Ward has committed to Miami.
19:55Ward previously announced he was headed to the NFL draft, but has had a change of heart and will enroll at the U.
20:01WSU. Ward threw for 3,735 yards and 25 touchdowns last season at WSU.
20:08So Cam Ward is probably thinking, okay, you know, Miami has a very good offensive line.
20:14I don't have to dance around and scramble around like I did at Incarnate Word or Washington State because we have a very good wall of hurricanes in front of me.
20:24And now I can just sit back and pick you guys apart and give you what you want.
20:28Oh, so you saying I can't stay in the pocket. Cool. Let me go to Miami. Let me pull myself out of the draft, go to Miami and show you guys once again why I am him.
20:39And it didn't help that he got paid a handsome fee to go to Miami as well.
20:43In college football, there was no place like the University of Miami. And for Cam, he was given the task to revitalize a storied, very storied college program.
20:54He a dog. He a dog, man. Like, we like dogs. Like, we like people who hunt. The moment he got there, just listen to him.
21:05Watching his demeanor and watch how many people wanted to follow him immediately.
21:12That's the leader of a pack, right? That's a special, innate thing that most people will never have. It's hard to have that unless you work for it. And he has it.
21:23Look, I always say this, right? You always, sometimes you start where you think you should be, but you end where you're supposed to be.
21:31For his career, he ended where he was supposed to end it. And that was at the University of Miami.
21:44China! How you gon' answer the state in your field with your enemies screaming your name? How you gon' act when their feelings get jaded because of the accolades mixed with the fame?
21:51How you gon' hit it and then pick up the pace? Don't let it slow you down. Enough for you to go and win.
21:55But don't get it twisted, don't never let nobody eat up your plate. This is the hustle for minimum wage.
21:59All of them cold summers, freezing a homeowner. If I ever make it out of them no struggles, the things that they hold from us.
22:05Look at the score, they ain't coaching those numbers. Take back what they stole from us.
22:08Now they're lasting to the back. Now they're calling me a great.
22:11China! China! What's up?
22:13China!
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