Star Black quarterbacks no longer are the exception – they’re the rule. Throughout the football season, this series will explore the prominence and impact of Black QBs from the grassroots level to the NFL.
INDIANAPOLIS – Only time will tell whether Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward will join the cadre of superstar Black quarterbacks who now run the NFL. But the two former college stars signaled they soon expect to be among the league’s best passers while addressing reporters Friday morning at the NFL scouting combine.
Sanders said teams should only draft him if they want a game changer at the most important position in sports. Ward pointed to his mettle and strong work ethic as characteristics that make him the best signal-caller available in the upcoming NFL draft.
They’re in competition to be the first passer selected during the three-day draft (April 24-26) in Green Bay, Wisconsin. To hear Sanders and Ward tell it, they’re both sure things.
“If you ain’t trying to change the franchise … don’t get me,” Sanders, as he’s prone to do, asserted boldly. “You should know history repeats itself over and over and over. I’ve done it over and over and over. So it should be no question why [an] NFL franchise should pick [me].”
Sanders was alluding to the quick turnarounds he helped engineer during his collegiate career at Jackson State and Colorado, respectively, under the tutelage of his father – NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. Considered the greatest cornerback in NFL history by most astute league observers, Sanders was a novice head coach when Jackson State hired him in 2020.
As a freshman and sophomore, Shedeur thrived as the Tigers’ starting quarterback, leading them to a combined record of 23-3. His success continued after he followed his father to Colorado. The Buffaloes went 4-8 in 2023, a three-win improvement from 2022, then 9-4 this season. That marked only the Buffaloes’ second winning record in the last 19 seasons.
Just like his father, Shedeur is confident and outspoken, which provides fuel for his critics. He acknowledges some teams may prefer to draft a quarterback who attracts less attention off the field.
Oh, well, Sanders said.
“You think I’m worried about what critics say or what people gotta say? You know who my dad is,” Sanders said. “They hate it on him, too. So it’s like … it’s almost not normal for us without people hating. We like adversity. We like everything that comes with the name. That’s why we are who we are.”
AP Photo/George Walker IV
Following a common practice for quarterbacks projected as high-round picks, Sanders and Ward declined to throw for scouts at the combine. They’ll save that part of the process for their pro days. In the run-up to the draft, they’re training together in Dallas.
“I think my five years of film shows everything I can do,” Ward said. “Me throwing here at the combine is not going to move the needle in any way.”
A Heisman Trophy finalist this season at Miami, the well-traveled Ward has been in the spotlight for a far shorter time than his pre-draft workout companion.
Lightly recruited out of high school, Ward began his journey at Incarnate Word. After shining as a freshman (Ward won the Jerry Rice Award as the most outstanding freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision) and sophomore for Incarnate Word, Ward transferred to Washington State to face better competition.
Finally, he landed at Miami for his last season. Ward set single-season Hurricanes records, passing for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns.
On each step of the long road, Ward remained focus on his goals.
“I just put my head down to work every day,” he said. “To everybody who was in a situation like me, who’s still gonna be in a situation like me, not having scholarships and all of that, all you gotta do is believe.”
Ward is confident he’ll succeed in the pocket in the NFL. The team that drafts Ward will get a young quarterback who possesses an old-school passer’s mentality, he said.
Being successful in the pocket “requires confidence, but it also requires film work,” Ward said. “Watching the gaps the defensive linemen get to, where they run the [blitzes] or [where] they’re just rushing from. You gotta have the ability to win from the pocket.”
Ward won’t engage in speculation about where he’ll be drafted or whether he’ll be picked ahead of Sanders. Having played the long game for so long now, Ward knows from experience that what matters most is one’s final destination.
“Whether I go first round or second round, at the end of day, that draft pick doesn’t mean nothing,” Ward said. “It’s all about establishing yourself once you get the opportunity.”
And we’ll all join in their ride as the next trip begins soon for Ward and Sanders.