Cam McDaniel (born September 20, 1991) is a former

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Early life

McDaniel attended

Coppell High School Coppell High School is a public high school located in Coppell, Texas. It is part of the Coppell Independent School District located in extreme northwest Dallas County. Overview The school graduated its first class of twenty-five students in ...

Coppell, Texas Coppell ( ) is a city in the northwest corner of Dallas County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a suburb of Dallas and a bedroom community in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 42,983 at the 2020 census. A small area in th ...

. In 2009, McDaniel rushed for over 1,200 yards and 20 touchdowns, while also catching 57 passes for seven touchdowns. The next season, McDaniel ran for 1,906 yards and 32 touchdowns while recording 40 receptions for 492 yards and three touchdowns. He was eventually named second-team all-state running back by the Texas Associated Press Sports Editors Class 5A team, and ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' named him to the all-area team's second team. The ''

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Car ...

'' awarded him MVP of District 7-5A. With McDaniel, the Coppell Cowboys lost only total three games, and went undefeated in his senior year.

College career

During his junior year of high school, McDaniel was offered scholarships by eight schools:

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. In 2010, McDaniel was offered additional scholarships by

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

. On November 30, McDaniel announced his commitment to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

stated that McDaniel was expected to serve as a

slot receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense, WR gets its name from the player being split ...

. In his freshman year, McDaniel served as a backup running back and on special teams, recording nine yards on three rushing attempts, while returning two kickoffs for 24 yards. In 2012, McDaniel played both running back and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

, while also playing special teams. He scored his first touchdown on October 6 against Miami (FL); McDaniel also set a school record for most consecutive carries on a drive with nine. McDaniel ended the 2012 season with 125 yards rushing and a touchdown. On October 19, 2013 against the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

, McDaniel ran for a career-high 92 yards. That same game, he lost his helmet during a run, and a photo taken of him with tousled hair and a "''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' televisi ...

''-esque smirk" went

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

as "Ridiculously Photogenic Football Player", creating an

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

. McDaniel ended the 2013 season with 705 rushing yards and three touchdowns. In his senior year, McDaniel was named a team captain. He concluded the 2014 season with 278 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

2015 NFL Draft

McDaniel was not invited to the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, though he attended Notre Dame's Pro Day on March 31, 2015, one of eleven players to do so. McDaniel recorded a

three-cone drill The three-cone drill, 3-cone drill or L-drill is a test performed by American football players. It is primarily run to evaluate the agility, quickness and fluidity of movement of players by scouts. It is most commonly seen at the NFL Combine in p ...

time of 6.78 seconds, faster than all running backs invited to the Combine, and would rank fifth among running backs in the last five Combines. McDaniel was not drafted by any team in the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

, but was offered a tryout with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Canadian Football League

McDaniel first latched on with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

for whom he played one game with in 2016. On May 11, 2017, McDaniel signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

, and was active for 9 games. While McDaniel did not play, he was a part of the Argos team that won the

105th Grey Cup The 105th Grey Cup was played on November 26, 2017, between the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. In a re-match of the 100th Grey Cup, the Argonauts won the game 27–24, winning their 17th cham ...

. Overall in his professional career, McDaniel played in 10 games, recording 8 rushes for 26 yards, in addition to catching 3 passes for 44 yards.

Personal life

McDaniel married high school sweetheart Stephani Sterrett on May 17, 2014. McDaniel's father, Danny McDaniel, is the head football coach at

Prosper High School Prosper High School is a class 6A public high school in Prosper, Texas, United States. It is part of Prosper Independent School District located in western Collin County, with a small portion of the district extending into Denton County. In addi ...

, and with his wife Diane, are producers for AdvoCare. McDaniel's grandfather and great-grandfather were also head coaches at Prosper. He has two brothers, Gavin and TJ both of whom also play running back; Gavin was a member of the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

and

Azusa Pacific Cougars The Azusa Pacific Cougars are the athletic teams that represent Azusa Pacific University, located in Azusa, California, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primar ...

, while TJ played for the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the sport, athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor Bears, Baylor, Rice Owls, ...

before transferring to Northern Arizona for his final year.

References

External links

Rivals bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDaniel, Cam Living people 1991 births American football running backs Canadian football running backs Players of Canadian football from Texas Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Montreal Alouettes players Players of American football from Dallas County, Texas Sportspeople from Coppell, Texas Toronto Argonauts players Coppell High School alumni