Titans Rookie QB Cam Ward Praises Parents

The Tennessee Titans have at least two new fans after the team selected Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Those people are Calvin and Patrice Ward, Cam's parents, who attended all 57 games during his collegiate career.

"It's been a long journey, but it's been worth it," Calvin Ward said via team reporter Jim Wyatt. "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."

Patrice also believes that Cam's path in life has led him to the Titans.

"We've prayed about this," Patrice Ward said via Wyatt. "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."

The Ward family started off at Incarnate Word in San Antonio before transferring to Washington State after two years in FCS. Then, after a pair of seasons with the Cougars in Pullman, the Wards went all the way to Miami, where he put himself on the map as the country's best quarterback prospect.

Cam showed thanks to his parents after believing in him every step of the way.

"Just what they sacrificed since I was a kid all the way to high school, to where I am now," Cam Ward said via Wyatt.

"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."

Ward is getting ready for Titans minicamp, which takes place on Friday and Saturday.