Cam Ward's touchdown celebration is sweeping the nation and many wondered how it originated and what it all means.
ESPN's Andrea Adelson with the story.
For weeks, the touchdown celebration that Cam Ward ushered into the national spotlight was surrounded with so much mystery, even he demurred when asked for a deeper meaning.
"I don't know if the world's ready for that right now," he said with a laugh a few weeks ago.
After some gentle prodding, though, he relented.
"You have to ask my old OC, Ben Arbuckle, Washington State," Ward explained.
Challenge accepted.
Arbuckle chuckles when asked about the celebration that Ward has brought to life -- across college football and into the NFL.
"The Zombieland," Arbuckle says. "It's a national treasure now."
Arbuckle arrived as the offensive coordinator at Washington State in 2023 after serving as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Western Kentucky. In order to familiarize Ward with the offense he wanted to run, Arbuckle showed him cut-ups from his time with the Hilltoppers.
It was during one of those sessions that Ward noticed a player doing a unique celebration after scoring a touchdown. He placed his left hand over his face mask and flopped his right arm straight in front of him. Intrigued, Ward asked Arbuckle, "What is he doing?"
Arbuckle told him about Zombieland. Ward said simply, "I'm going to start doing it."
That player Ward noticed? Western Kentucky receiver Daewood Davis. But what exactly does Zombieland mean? Arbuckle said his players told him it meant they were telling their opponents, "You stink like a zombie."
In a phone interview with ESPN, Davis explained the original meaning. During fall camp in 2022, Davis said one of his teammates, a defensive back named Upton Stout, first did the celebration after a pass breakup. "It came out of nowhere," Davis said. Then he decided to do it after scoring a touchdown. He remembers defensive back Kahlef Hailassie doing it, too. Before long, the entire team used it as its signature celebration.
Now it needed a name. The players came up with "Zombieland" because zombies are unstoppable and hard to kill. Davis proudly proclaimed he was the first player to do the celebration on national television when he did it following a touchdown catch against Indiana in 2022.
Soon, the Hilltoppers started attaching different meanings to Zombieland, including a jab at their opponents for well, stinking like a zombie. Davis said they tried hard to make the celebration go viral in 2022 but had no luck. The first time he saw Ward do it, he was so shocked, he turned to his wife and said, "He's doing our celebration!"
"I didn't even know how he knew about it," Davis said. "I forgot our old OC went to Wazzu."
Ward actually started doing it at Washington State in 2023, as he promised Arbuckle he would. The first time he did it in a game was against Oregon State last September. Ward threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams on the second play of the game.
"Cam got hit when he threw it, but he stayed on his feet. So he drifted over to the far sideline and he gave [then-Oregon State coach] Jonathan Smith the Zombieland right in his face," Arbuckle said. "And I was like, 'Oh my god.'"
Ward knew he would continue doing the celebration once he transferred to Miami. "I didn't invent it, but I'm going to blow it up. The whole country is doing it now."
Earlier this season, Washington State faced San Jose State and former Wazzu quarterback Emmett Brown. "He threw like four touchdowns and he hit the celebration every single time," Arbuckle said. "I was like, 'Oh, we're getting Zombied right now.'"
Davis was watching when Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers hit the celebration a few weeks ago against Seattle, and he made sure to let the world know on social media where it all began.
"It's surreal," Davis said. "To see NFL players hitting it, Cam hitting it, there's some other college players hitting it, man, it's like we really set a trend. We left our piece of us in football. When I see someone do it, I can be like, 'That's me right there.'" -- ESPN's Andrea Adelson
ESPN's Andrea Adelson with the story.
For weeks, the touchdown celebration that Cam Ward ushered into the national spotlight was surrounded with so much mystery, even he demurred when asked for a deeper meaning.
"I don't know if the world's ready for that right now," he said with a laugh a few weeks ago.
After some gentle prodding, though, he relented.
"You have to ask my old OC, Ben Arbuckle, Washington State," Ward explained.
Challenge accepted.
Arbuckle chuckles when asked about the celebration that Ward has brought to life -- across college football and into the NFL.
"The Zombieland," Arbuckle says. "It's a national treasure now."
Arbuckle arrived as the offensive coordinator at Washington State in 2023 after serving as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Western Kentucky. In order to familiarize Ward with the offense he wanted to run, Arbuckle showed him cut-ups from his time with the Hilltoppers.
It was during one of those sessions that Ward noticed a player doing a unique celebration after scoring a touchdown. He placed his left hand over his face mask and flopped his right arm straight in front of him. Intrigued, Ward asked Arbuckle, "What is he doing?"
Arbuckle told him about Zombieland. Ward said simply, "I'm going to start doing it."
That player Ward noticed? Western Kentucky receiver Daewood Davis. But what exactly does Zombieland mean? Arbuckle said his players told him it meant they were telling their opponents, "You stink like a zombie."
In a phone interview with ESPN, Davis explained the original meaning. During fall camp in 2022, Davis said one of his teammates, a defensive back named Upton Stout, first did the celebration after a pass breakup. "It came out of nowhere," Davis said. Then he decided to do it after scoring a touchdown. He remembers defensive back Kahlef Hailassie doing it, too. Before long, the entire team used it as its signature celebration.
Now it needed a name. The players came up with "Zombieland" because zombies are unstoppable and hard to kill. Davis proudly proclaimed he was the first player to do the celebration on national television when he did it following a touchdown catch against Indiana in 2022.
Soon, the Hilltoppers started attaching different meanings to Zombieland, including a jab at their opponents for well, stinking like a zombie. Davis said they tried hard to make the celebration go viral in 2022 but had no luck. The first time he saw Ward do it, he was so shocked, he turned to his wife and said, "He's doing our celebration!"
"I didn't even know how he knew about it," Davis said. "I forgot our old OC went to Wazzu."
Ward actually started doing it at Washington State in 2023, as he promised Arbuckle he would. The first time he did it in a game was against Oregon State last September. Ward threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams on the second play of the game.
"Cam got hit when he threw it, but he stayed on his feet. So he drifted over to the far sideline and he gave [then-Oregon State coach] Jonathan Smith the Zombieland right in his face," Arbuckle said. "And I was like, 'Oh my god.'"
Ward knew he would continue doing the celebration once he transferred to Miami. "I didn't invent it, but I'm going to blow it up. The whole country is doing it now."
Earlier this season, Washington State faced San Jose State and former Wazzu quarterback Emmett Brown. "He threw like four touchdowns and he hit the celebration every single time," Arbuckle said. "I was like, 'Oh, we're getting Zombied right now.'"
Davis was watching when Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers hit the celebration a few weeks ago against Seattle, and he made sure to let the world know on social media where it all began.
"It's surreal," Davis said. "To see NFL players hitting it, Cam hitting it, there's some other college players hitting it, man, it's like we really set a trend. We left our piece of us in football. When I see someone do it, I can be like, 'That's me right there.'" -- ESPN's Andrea Adelson
