Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward is one of a handful of potential No. 1 overall picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. He intends to make any team that passes on him pay for the balance of his career.

Speaking Monday night while receiving the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top college quarterback, Ward was unsure about whether he’d throw next week at the NFL Scouting Combine but offered a clear message to any team that asks about sitting out the final half of his last collegiate game.

“OK, you’re either going to draft me or you’re not,” Ward told The Associated Press. “If you don’t draft me, that’s your fault. You’ve got to remember you’re the same team that’s got to play me for the rest of my career, and I’ll remember that.”

Ward has been criticized for not playing in the second half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl in December after breaking the NCAA Division I record for career touchdown passes before halftime.

Ward said sitting the second half was part of the plan.

“I just think we all got what we needed out of it. They seen things that they think they need to work on … for this season coming up. And they also knew, you know, what I had on the line,” Ward said. “We feel like we’re doing what’s best for the program and myself. I mean, it was a hard decision, especially when, you know, some guys on our team didn’t play who I thought should have played. It was also, you know, those guys thought about their future the same way I thought about mine.”