Losing is becoming too common of an occurrence for Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward 20 games into his NFL career.
The 2025 NFL draft’s No. 1 overall pick fell to 3-17 as a starter following the Titans’ 12-7 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. Ward threw an interception in the red zone with 17 seconds left to drop the Titans to 0-3 in early weeks of NFL season.
While the mounting losses have undoubtedly taken a toll on Ward, the Titans quarterback’s sister, Chantel Ward, reached a breaking point after the team’s latest defeat.
Chantel Ward spoke out against death threats she says she and other members of Cam Ward’s family have received online from NFL fans.
The sister of the former Miami Hurricanes quarterback used her Instagram account to express her frustration with personal attacks due to her brother’s play and the Titans’ results on the field.
Chantel Ward’s full statement can be seen below.
The fact I even have to post this is diabolical. People see the football games. They see the wins, the losses, the interceptions, the touchdowns, the press conferences and everything that happens on the field.
What they don’t see is what comes with it for the people who love these players when the game is over. After games, people come directly into my DMs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with threats, hate, bullying, personal attacks and disrespect toward me and my family – all over football.
Criticize the game. Criticize a play. Be frustrated with your team. That’s sports, and I completely understand that. But seeking out a player’s sister, parents or other family members to personally attack them because you’re upset about what happened on a football field is something completely different.
Cam is a quarterback to y’all. He’s entertainment on Sundays. To me, that’s my little brother. Somebody I’ve loved, protected, supported and watched work for this his entire life.
So when people come onto my page or into my messages disrespecting him, me or my family and then tell me, “don’t take it personal” – how exactly am i supposed to take it?
And trust me, the screenshots I share are only a fraction of what comes through.There’s so much that happens outside of those football games that people will never see.
There are real people and real families on the other side of these screens. You don’t know what happens when the cameras turn off. You don’t know what families carry, what gets said privately, or what we have to read simply because someone didn’t like the outcome of a football game.Football is a game, being passionate about your team does not give you
permission to forget people’s humanity. Criticize football all you want. Criticize the performance. Criticize the decisions. That comes with the territory.But threats, harassment, bullying and attacking someone’s family will never be “just part of the game.
Through three weeks of the NFL season, Ward is completing 62.5 percent of his passes for 504 yards, two touchdowns and one interception; he also has two rushing touchdowns and 30 yards on the ground in nine attempts.
The former No. 1 overall pick has Total Quarterback Rating (QBR) of 47.2 out of 100, according to ESPN, with 50 being considered league average. Ward’s QBR in Sunday’s loss to the Giants (46.8) was actually higher than the total of New York starting quarterback Jameis Winston (27.9).
However, despite the Giants scoring all their 12 points on field goals in a game impacted by inclement weather, the lasting memory of the matchup was Ward’s interception after he led the Titans 70 yards down the field to set up a potential game-winning touchdown.
“It’s just bad because in my mind one play can sum it up,” Ward said about his critical fourth-quarter interception during the loss to Giants. “But we had a lot of plays that wouldn’t have even had us, as a team, in that situation.”
Ward and the Titans will try to get in the NFL win column for the first time this season versus the Baltimore Ravens (2-1) on the road again Sunday.
“Every loss is frustrating, but I think the part that keeps me going the most is knowing I have an opportunity to win the game next week,” Ward said. “We have another opportunity as a team to prove it to ourselves who we really are.”
