Cam Ward was the No. 1 overall pick in last month’s NFL Draft. But judging by how the sports media has covered him since, you’d be forgiven for not knowing that.
ESPN, in particular, got panned for its coverage. When the network’s draft broadcast finally got to Ward’s selection by the Tennessee Titans, it spent the better part of 10 minutes explaining why the Titans got it wrong and why they should’ve taken Shedeur Sanders instead.
Mel Kiper Jr. had Sanders as his No. 1 quarterback on his Big Board. That ranking stood out as more of an outlier than an insight, considering Sanders didn’t come off the board until the fifth round when Cleveland took a flier on him. Most teams clearly didn’t see Sanders as anything more than a long-term backup, and his drop to Day 3 was less about talent and more about how he handled the pre-draft process. He probably should’ve gone in the third or fourth round. But that’s beside the point.
The point is that ESPN turned what should’ve been a celebration of Ward into a Shedeur Sanders tribute show, and Ward got buried because of it.
Maybe Ward doesn’t mind the lack of spotlight. He’s never been one to chase it. After a solid but under-the-radar run at Washington State, he transferred to Miami and tore through Power Four competition like he had something to prove. Then he opted out of the second half of Miami’s bowl game, a business decision that drew much criticism.
Beyond that, though? Crickets.
Kyle Brandt was one of the few to call it out. The NFL Network personality said he’d never seen a No. 1 overall pick get this little attention, joking (but not really) that there was more buzz around Eric Fisher coming out of Central Michigan in 2013. That’s not exactly a flattering comparison, but it highlights the media vacuum Ward has been stuck in since draft night.
And the league’s scheduling decisions haven’t helped. The Titans are one of just a handful of teams with zero primetime games in 2025. Brandt said he’d love to act surprised, but he’s not. Honestly, neither is anyone who watched how the coverage played out.
I screamed about the No. 1 overall pick.
But you won’t click because apparently I’m the only person who’s interested in Cam Ward. pic.twitter.com/iaZnuSyn8U
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) May 19, 2025
“This is not only a franchise that’s routinely disrespected, that man is by far the most overlooked, underrepresented, disrespected No. 1 overall pick quarterback in my lifetime,” Brandt said of Ward on Monday’s edition of Good Morning Football. “Understand this: Cam Ward, who is big and strong and cool and friendly and professional and has a very interesting backstory, is getting nothing. You will not see him in primetime because he’s the quarterback of the Titans.
“And I have comps for you here. I have comps. You might think, ‘Well, you know, it’s a rookie quarterback. Big deal.’ Last year, Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, [had] three primetime games. And you might say, ‘Well, you know Chicago’s a big media market.’ Okay. How about Bryce Young? He plays for Carolina. He got two primetime games as the No. 1 overall pick quarterback. Go back to the year before that, even. Trevor Lawrence, media market 32, as the No. 1 overall pick quarterback, he got a primetime game.”
Brandt’s frustration speaks to something bigger than just Cam Ward.
This is about how narratives get built — or buried — by networks and league partners before a rookie even throws a pass. ESPN barely acknowledged Ward on draft night, and the NFL schedule makers followed suit, treating the No. 1 overall pick like a Day 3 afterthought. It’s not just about the market sizes that Brandt laid out. Chicago, Carolina, Jacksonville… none of those markets are exactly New York or L.A., and yet their No. 1 QBs still got the national stage. Ward? Nothing.
It’s as if being picked first overall wasn’t supposed to mean anything anymore.
“And this Cam Ward is saying, ‘Why don’t you love me? You can’t even toss me the backend of a primetime doubleheader that starts at 10 [p.m.] Eastern that no one will watch anyway? Just give me a chance here. You can’t just give me a charity Thursday night game?'” Brandt said. “It’s like you literally don’t remember the Titans. And I don’t know what Cam Ward ever did to anybody to make him so unlikable, so uninteresting. We’d rather give 10 primetime games to the Shedeur Sanders deal than one to Cam Ward, who was drafted 5,000 picks ahead of him.”
To be fair, the Browns also didn’t land a primetime game, joining the Titans and New Orleans Saints as the only teams not granted a national stage, but that decision was probably made well before they drafted Shedeur Sanders.
The difference is that the NFL had months to prepare for Cam Ward going No. 1.
“I want to see this guy, but apparently no one else does,” Brandt quipped.
What’s baffling is how little curiosity there is about Ward. He’s got the talent, the charisma, and a compelling path from Division II Incarnate Word to Wazzu to Miami. If anything, he’s the kind of story the NFL should want to promote. But instead, they’ve handed the keys to the hype machine over to guys with bigger NIL followings and louder entourages. Ward just plays football. And for whatever reason, that no longer seems to be enough.