NASHVILLE – Cam Ward played in 57 games in college, at Incarnate Word, Washington State and the University of Miami.
How many games did his parents attend?
"57 of 57," Calvin Ward, Cam's father, said with a smile.
It wasn't easy, especially those two seasons when Ward was quarterback at Washington State, located in Pullman, Washington.
Those years it took Calvin and Patrice Ward, who live in West Columbia, Texas, roughly nine hours to get to one of their son's home games. A typical travel weekend those days looked like this: Driving an hour to Houston Hobby Airport, catching a flight from Houston to Denver (layover) and then flying to Spokane, Wash., getting a rental car, and driving another 1 ½ hours to Pullman.
After the game, and a quick visit with Cam, they'd retrace their steps back to Texas.
"In Cam's two years at Washington State," said Calvin Ward, "the closest games were at USC and UCLA (in Los Angeles)."
But for the Wards, it was all worth it.
They saw their son blossom from a zero-star recruit coming out of high school to one of the nation's top quarterbacks, and the first overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, by the Titans.
"It's been a long journey, but it's been worth it," Calvin Ward said. "Every curve we've had to go through, every stop sign we've had to stop at, it led us to this, and it's all been worth it."
Calvin Ward, a fuel buyer for a nuclear power plant, and Patrice Ward, a longtime high school special education teacher and basketball coach who has since retired, both had adjust their work schedules, and life, to it happen.
Seeing their son get drafted, and then following him to Tennessee, has been one of their life's highlights so far.
"We've prayed about this," Patrice Ward said. "Tennessee is the right place for Cameron. I prayed about it, and started manifesting on it. God always leads us in the right direction, and he led us to Tennessee. And we're all so happy about it.
"Cam knows without God none of this is possible, and he has that faith and believes in God."
Calvin Ward said Cam Ward never gave up on his dream, despite dealing with adversity, and doubters.
"I am very proud, because I think the average athlete would have stopped," Calvin Ward said. "In high school, you're told you're not good enough to play college football. Then, in order to get a chance, you have to go to this FCS school (and prove yourself).
"A lot of kids would have been like, I'm good. But he was like: Let's go."
Surrounded by family at the NFL Draft, and on the trip to Nashville last week after he was selected, Cam Ward said he'll never be able to repay his parents for what they've invested in him.
Ward has always appreciated their support.
"Just what they sacrificed since I was a kid all the way to high school, to where I am now," he said. "They sacrificed financially for me. Time-wise, there's days my dad would wake up at 5:00 a.m., we'd drive halfway across Texas to get to camps. I'll never be able to repay them. But I just hope me being able to repay them one way is just by putting on for them and the family on the field.
"But financially, time-wise, since I was a kid, they've sacrificed so much. And I just think everything they did for me is starting to pay off for them as well."
The Wards are looking forward to non-stop flights to Nashville, where they already have friends in town.
A former next-door neighbor, in fact, moved to Nashville.
Ward has already rewarded his mother once recently, when he stepped on the stage with the NFL Commissioner.
"My mom wanted a nice picture of me and Mr. Roger Goodell in her living room," Ward said. "My mom told me: Just make sure you and Mr. Goodell are smiling in the picture. So, I gave my mom what she wanted."
