Cam Ball details late father's impact on his life

ATLANTA — Charles “Ice Man” Ball should have been at the College Football Hall of Fame this week, supporting his son Cam, who represented the Arkansas football team he’s dedicated the last four years of his life to.

Unfortunately, Charles wasn’t able to be there physically, as stomach cancer claimed his life more than a month prior on June 9.

Charles was there in spirit, though, as well as on a pendant that Cam proudly displayed on his chest for every second he was there.

Cam fielded dozens of questions about his father’s life on Thursday. About his impact on his life, the values he instilled in him that made him the football player he is today, and more. With every question Cam answered, a smile beamed across his face.

The first place he fielded questions was with a group of local media members who made the trek to Atlanta. The first thing he talked about? His father.

“My father passed away a month ago,” Ball said to the scrum of media, who gathered in close with phones, voice recorders and cameras. “I told him that I’m going to represent him throughout the rest of my life.

“He told me, with me coming here today, he don’t care how he gets here, whether he’s dragging a wheelchair or anything of that nature, unfortunately he’s not dragging a wheelchair, so I’m going to have him on my chest, so anybody that sees or talks to me, they’re going to be talking to him as well.”

The pendant displayed across Ball’s chest has a picture of Charles, with a silver outline and chain, and was front and center in every camera shot of Cam. The Atlanta native didn’t have to talk about the love he had for his father; It was evident without even hearing him speak.

Arkansas defensive tackle Cam Ball fields questions from local media Thursday at SEC Media Days, donning a chain around his neck in honor of his late father, Charles “Ice Man” Ball.

Naturally, a day like Thursday would have been emotional for anyone after losing a parent so recently. Cam said he felt the pang of loss early on in the day.

“I had a moment this morning, just waking up,” Ball said. “Because normally on a day like today, my father would send me, like, a motivational paragraph or video just telling me how proud he is.

“Just waking up and not getting that notification to my phone, it got to me a little bit. But I know he’s right here and he’s here in spirit.”

Cam Ball’s ‘4 H’s’

Ball is heading into his fifth and final season with the Razorbacks in 2025. Every year of his college career has been spent with the program that offered him a scholarship out of Tri-Cities High School in the Atlanta area, which Cam said hasn’t produced many Division I football players.

Asked what his father instilled in him that allowed him to become the athlete that he is today, Cam gave a list. That list is what he called the “4 H’s,” which are tattooed on his arm.

Humble
Hungry
Healthy
Hardworking

“Just growing up, they just told me the number one H is stay humble through it all,” Ball said. “I’m a God-fearing man. I was raised in a church, my church is probably like 40 minutes from here. So you got to be humble. You got to stay hungry in life, whatever you do. You got to stay healthy. And most importantly, you got to be a hard worker.”

How Charles got his ‘Ice Man’ nickname

One of the things Cam dove into was how his father got the nickname “Ice Man.” As it turns out, Charles was a bit of an athlete himself, though he played on the hardwood instead of the gridiron like his son.

Charles’ shot was so pure, Cam said, he earned the nickname “Ice Man.” Cam was unfamiliar with George Gervin, who played for the San Antonio Spurs for 11 years in the 70s and 80s, and had originally been named “The Iceman.”

“My dad had the nicest shot there was, man,” Ball said. “I tried to clown with him, and growing up we would play pickup (basketball) or horse. We used to love playing horse and pig in the backyard. He would beat me most of the time, but as I got older I started getting a little shot myself.

“My dad was a cool, one-of-a-kind guy. Long live Ice Man.”

That means that Cam is “Ice Man Jr,” something he said while pointing the pair of snazzy blue and white shoes he was wearing with the words “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” written on them; Yet another saying Charles had that made an impact on Cam.