Tennessee Titans first-round draft pick Cam Ward has earned high praise from his new organization. Warren Moon allowed Ward to wear his retired No. 1 jersey. Ward earned the respect of everyone in the organization by simply learning their names. And comparisons to former Titans’ great Steve McNair have rolled in. Former Titans head coach Jeff Fisher is the perfect person to ask how Cam Ward compares to Steve McNair.
Buck first says he doesn’t like these comparisons because of the pressure it puts on young quarterbacks, but acknowledges that pressure comes from everywhere in the NFL. Then, he asks what Fisher thinks. First, Fisher discussed how they handled McNair when he joined the league in 1995 and how McNair was a football player first.
“But are there similarities between the two? Physically, I don’t think you’re ever going to find anybody who matches Steve’s physical characteristics,” Fisher said. “The toughness, the strength, I remember so many times when it’s like, ‘Hey bud you need to freaking get down.’ And his response was, “If you’re gonna call a quarterback draw, or you want me to run this thing, I’m a runner. If I’m a passer and I’m gonna extend and do what I have to do, I’ll be careful and avoid contact and things like that.”
“He was quiet,” the former head coach continued. “He wasn’t really outspoken, he wasn’t that guy that would step in and call a team meeting, or grab the team in the locker room and stuff like that. He was more of that quiet leader that people really respected. Sometimes guys are gonna yell and they’re gonna talk trash and things like that, but Steve spoke softly. And when he spoke, people bent over and listened to what he had to say.”
Let’s be clear: Cam Ward is not Steve McNair, and no one should expect that from him. However, that last part about speaking softly sounds familiar. Ward likes to trash-talk on the field, but everywhere else he is calm and quiet. We’ll see if his leadership style is anything like McNair’s as the season wears on, but Ward has certainly shown up and gotten everyone’s attention.