College football is a very novel and standalone microcosm of the sports realm. It’s atypical in how it runs and how it plays out. From the front offices down to the field. A large portion of this unconventionality stems from its core- after all, it’s not a pro sport. The laws of the professional game don’t really translate to CFB with linearity. This can sometimes lead to odd issues which are exclusive to it. One such issue, almost unprecedented, surfaced this weekend. Miami’s Cam Ward walked into a proverbial “hurricane” of his own doing.

For a player such as Cam Ward, Bowl games are a bit of a hindrance. His efforts to will his team into the CFP fell short. He’s imminently bowing out of the college game. Plus, he’s a consensus top 5 NFL draft pick, conservatively. So, the risk-reward for appearing in a Bowl can be a difficult decision to tread. One injury can be career-altering. If you’re already a pro, you’re under more stringent contractual laws to abide by and play. Most collegiate players destined for the Draft opt out. Cam didn’t, which is applaudable. However, what he did is being widely perceived as an even bigger slap to the spirit of sport and competition than sitting out. 

By half-time of the Canes’ Pop-Tarts Bowl vs Iowa State, Cam Ward had garnered 3 TDs. En route to this, he passed the all-time NCAA D-1 record for touchdowns thrown with 156. Truly commendable. Despite this clinic, Miami was only leading 31-28. Cam never returned to play in the 2nd half. This was not owing to a knock or injury but predetermined. Miami went on to lose the game, as his teammates were left battling without their superstar. This decision has divided the football sphere, with a majority siding against Cam Ward for essentially copping out of a competitive environment. Shannon Sharpe concurred with this notion and even warned him that this would not go down well at the NFL Draft combine. Getting unscathed to that juncture was actually what caused this ordeal in the first place!

In the aftermath, Shannon took to his Nightcap YouTube channel to discern. “I think scouts and player personnel…they’re not going to look favorable upon that decision, because they’re [asking], if you’re there, you took yourself out of the game?” he said.

Shannon voiced how it was contradictory to the crux of playing sports if you’re not doing your best to win. He also gave elaborate insight on how this will be dissected by NFL franchises. “I can assure you. We’ve been in those meetings at the [Draft] combine, where they go in there, and they’re gonna say, ‘Son, tell us what you were thinking. Why didn’t you play the second half?’ Now, just so you know, your head coach is gonna tell them. So don’t go in there thinking you’re pulling the wool over somebody’s eyes.”

Miami HC Mario Cristobal, post-game, did suggest this was a predetermined call after a private meeting between the two. Cristobal would naturally want his best player on the field, which insinuates that it was indeed Cam Ward and his camp that raised the idea. You’d think Cam cannot be absolved for this. However, a fellow football legend of Shannon’s is giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Amidst pandemonium, Cam Ward gets a helping hand from Robert Griffin III

The legion of quarterbacks remains as strong as ever. It’s almost as if guys who play the position have some intrinsic bond. As such, former pro and Heisman winner Robert Griffin III has come to Cam’s aid amidst the scrutiny. RG3 put on his rose-tinted QB lenses and offered a “glass half-full” perspective of what went down.

“Same people criticizing Cam Ward for sitting out the 2nd half of the Pop Tarts Bowl, would be saying how dumb it was for him to play if he got hurt,” he said via X. “He didn’t have to play AT ALL. Instead, he gave us a half of jaw-dropping plays. Stop villainizing these student athletes.” This creates a conundrum that circles back to the fundamental issue.

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In an “amateur” sport where players don’t have more free-will to put themselves first, this sort of issue will regularly crop up. Players have been opting out of Bowl games for years. The issue with this particular scenario is the optics. It seems as if Cam Ward only participated so that he could get that all-time record. Maybe he’d just have sat out like the plethora of other players in his draft class. We’ll never fully know what went into the decision-making process. But people across the board will hope this is a one-off. The scrutiny on Cam will go some way in ensuring that.