The name Cam Ward has very different meanings in North Carolina's Research Triangle and the rest of the country.
In Raleigh, N.C., he is forever the nerve center of the Carolina Hurricanes' 2006 Stanley Cup team—the rookie who backstopped his squad to the promised land. Everywhere else, he is Miami's All-American quarterback and the Tennessee Titans' top draft pick.
On Thursday, as the Titans welcomed Ward the football player, Ward the hockey player had some fun with their shared name.
In a video posted to Instagram, Ward the hockey player—who retired in 2019 after 14 seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks—watches NFL commissioner Roger Goodell read Ward the football player's name to start the draft. He reacts with humorous surprise as he realizes it's the same as his.
Cam Ward (the goalie) had a hilarious reaction to Cam Ward (the quarterback) being selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft 😂
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 25, 2025
(via IG/unmask_vineyard36, h/t @MissinCurfew) pic.twitter.com/6sCpSTzA7x
"Did I just get picked?" he asks the camera.
Ward the goalie was a first-round NHL draft pick many moons ago, as the Carolina Hurricanes took him 25th in 2002 out of the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels.
Maybe one day baseball and basketball will have their own Cam Wards who star for "Hurricanes" teams as well.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ex-NHL Goalie Cam Ward Has Funny Reaction to QB Cam Ward's NFL Draft Selection.
