PULLMAN, Wash. — "Really all my life is fishing," said junior Washington State quarterback Cam Ward. "My dad put me on fishing and since he did that, I was probably eight years old, I haven't stopped. I tried to go every chance I could get. That's probably the one thing that for sure brings me peace."
Cam Ward's place of zen is on the water with a reel in his hand. The Texas Gulf Coast native is still trying to learn the ropes of fishing in the Inland Northwest
"I've experienced some new things in Washington, I'm not going to lie. I went freshwater fishing for the first time, I didn't have a good experience just because I didn't catch anything," Ward said. "When I go home, saltwater, I catch something every time. So, you know, the bass fishing is not really my thing I like catching the big fish in the South."
Ward's other place of comfort is on the football field. That's something that translates no matter where you are.
"He is wildly talented. We saw that from day one," Washington State head coach Jake Dickert said .
"He's a very sharp kid. Football IQ through the roof. Really, really sharp. And I think his play can show you alone that he's crazy talented," said offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
Ward's first season in Pullman proved he was the quarterback everyone thought the Cougs were getting as a highly touted transfer. He threw for 3,231 yards with 24 touchdowns and just nine interceptions.
"I think year one was good to me. It was learning and it was also just making my mark at Washington State for my first year," said Ward.
What can strike fear in opponents is he knows there's still plenty of room to grow.
"I'm my hardest critic on myself. I think there's more times just when you need to win from the pocket. Because where I want to get in this football life you have to be able to win from the pocket," said Ward. "That's something I wanted to focus on this off-season. I feel like that I've gotten better at that since."
"Through all his success in his college career, when we challenged him this season, he didn't go 'ahh, these guys don't know what they're talking about. I've been successful.' He's wanted to work on his game. I think he's really hungry for where he wants to go," Dickert said.
Ward says he's found his groove in the new offense under first year Offensive Coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
"I'm in a great place right now. I know the offense inside and out," Ward said.
He's been named a multiple big preseason award watch lists. However, he's not worried about that. He'll let his play do the talking.
"It's exciting to see my name on stuff like that. But, you know, none of that really means nothing to me or anybody in the preseason," Ward said . "Come December if the season goes how we all want it to go everything take care of itself."
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