What does Cam Ward celebration mean?

Cam Ward is a quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes and plays as a senior in 2024. Ward hails from West Columbia, Texas, and attended Columbia High School. According to the official website of the Miami Hurricanes, Ward played under Coach Brent Mascheck in high school and registered over 1,000 yards passing in both junior and senior years. In 2018, he made 72 of 124 passes for 1,070 yards and seven touchdowns, adding four more rushing touchdowns. Ward led the team to the 2019 co-district championship, earning numerous honors in the process, such as being selected for the all-district quarterback first-team, the all-state team, and the All-Southern Brazoria County quarterback first-team. Apart from football, Ward played basketball and won the all-district offensive MVP twice. He also earned an honorable mention in the all-state team for his academics. Cam Ward has spent his collegiate career at Incarnate Word, Washington State, and Miami. During his last season at Incarnate Word in 2021, Ward was named to the FCS All-America Second Team and earned the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year award while finishing as the finalist for the Walter Payton Award. The same year, he led the team to the Southland Conference Championship and also qualified for the second round of the FCS playoffs. Wards registered 384 of 590 passes for 4,648 yards and 47 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. At Washington State, Ward started 25 games, amassing 6,963 passing yards, 48 touchdowns, and 13 rushing touchdowns over two seasons. In 2024, at Miami, he won the ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and also earned a selection in the All-ACC First-Team.

Cam Ward celebration

Cam Ward's touchdown celebration is known as the 'Zombie Land' celebration. As per The Miami Herald, the celebration involves placing the left hand over the mouth while waving the right hand up and down. Although Ward is often credited with the gesture, it originated when the Western Kentucky football team did it on national television in 2022. Ward adopted it from his offensive coordinator at Washington State, Ben Arbuckle.

Talking about the same, Ward said (via The Miami Herald),

“He [Arbuckle] told me the story last year and I started hitting it last year in practice. And then after I would throw a pick at practice at Wazzu, the whole defense would start hitting it. That’s when I knew they messed with it. I just brought it over here, and then they got a pick off me at practice and the defense starting hitting it. That’s how it started.”