Alex Donno describes his early impressions of Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward.
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00:00 Cam Ward had his first opportunity to meet Miami Hurricanes fans over the weekend.
00:05 Shout out to Harry and everybody at the Miami Hurricanes team store for hosting
00:10 Ward for an autograph signing this past Saturday.
00:13 And every buddy that I spoke to fans who came down for the event were
00:18 absolutely blown away and they're really impressed by Miami's new starting
00:22 quarterback, one guy who came up, he said he drove five hours from Tampa just to
00:27 come down and meet Cam Ward had an awesome experience down here, him and his family.
00:32 And.
00:33 Um, definitely, uh, it's really important, I think, to have this opportunity.
00:38 There's a lot of videos out there.
00:39 Cause Cam did do some media availability and talk to some reporters out there.
00:44 Um, you know, I I'm pleasantly, uh, I'm not going to say surprise, but I.
00:49 I get pleasant impressions on what Cam Ward is all about, because I know that
00:54 you just based on the whole process, you had that whole saga of, is he going to
00:59 Miami?
00:59 Is he going to Florida state?
01:01 Is he going to the NFL and the thing dragged on for so long?
01:04 I know that some people out there got this impression that, Hey, maybe this
01:09 guy's a little bit of a diva and maybe this guy is quote unquote Hollywood.
01:12 I don't get that impression whatsoever from Cam Ward, which is very pleasant
01:17 because you want somebody here.
01:18 Who's all about the work.
01:20 And he seems to be that because the big thing that stands out about me
01:23 personality wise, we're going to see it on the field, hopefully spring football
01:27 and beyond, but Cam does not give out any Hollywood vibes whatsoever.
01:32 Um, he comes off as a totally humble and hardworking guy.
01:36 And I know for a fact, he spends a lot of time, if not most of his time at the
01:41 hurricanes team facility working out.
01:44 And he also mentioned he, he does spend some time fishing.
01:47 And if you're, if you're an angler, if you're a fisherman, South
01:50 Florida is not a bad place to be.
01:52 So once he's done putting in his work at the hurricanes team
01:55 facility, off season workouts.
01:56 He likes to go out and fish on some afternoons as well.
02:00 Um, you know, he said he recently got his living situation settled down
02:04 here, which is obviously important.
02:05 He's starting to feel comfortable in the area.
02:08 He shouted out some of his teammates.
02:10 He spoke very highly of Xavier Restrepo and what he said about X or
02:15 strep is some people call him.
02:17 That, that almost makes me think of strep throat, but strep.
02:20 One of the things that Ward said about Restrepo, which is not surprising.
02:24 Cause I feel like Xavier Restrepo is one of the most, not only important
02:27 players on the Miami hurricanes, but one of the most important team leaders.
02:31 Restrepo was the first guy who reached out to Ward to get to know him
02:36 even before Ward got to campus.
02:39 Right?
02:39 Like when it was reported, he's coming to Miami Xavier Restrepo
02:43 basically immediately was in Ward's inbox.
02:45 They were chatting and you know, you guys remember the very first
02:48 day that Ward was on campus, he and Restrepo met up and they
02:51 took some pictures together.
02:53 So he's been really Restrepo has been working on that chemistry
02:56 with Ward on and off the field.
02:58 And, and Ward is putting in that work as well.
03:00 He talked about how at this point, you know, first few weeks at the facility,
03:05 he's been trying to learn everybody's names, all of it.
03:07 You know, you got, uh, 84 teammates just for the scholarship guys.
03:11 Then all the walk-ons he's learning everybody's names, getting acclimated
03:14 and familiar with everyone.
03:16 And he spoke really highly, not only of Restrepo, but also of Jacoby George.
03:21 We've seen those reports that he and George are building really
03:24 good chemistry and workouts.
03:26 He shouted out some of his offensive linemen and as Cooper is somewhat,
03:29 he singled out as being a really hard worker and Jalen Rivers.
03:33 He talked about Ruben Bain and some of Miami's defensive players.
03:36 Now he didn't say it at the autograph signing availability, but you guys
03:40 remember we, uh, we showed you that video last week that Ward did for the
03:45 Canes connection and I L collective.
03:47 And he also talked about Jojo Trader, Josiah Trader, true freshman
03:51 receiver as someone who's really been standing out to him and workouts.
03:55 And the two of them are building some chemistry.