Cameron Latu (born February 24, 2000) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

Early life

Latu was born in Los Angeles, California to Jillene Argust and Viliami Latu. He moved to Chisholm, MN at the age of 2. He has a fraternal twin brother named Nathan, who played football at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and is currently a NFL free agent, and an older brother, Sioka. Growing up, he initially played football, basketball and track and field. His family moved to

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

in 2013, and he attended

Olympus High School Olympus High School is a public high school in the Granite School District in Holladay, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Description The school opened on September 1, 1953, with an original enrollment of 1028 students. In the fall of 1960, th ...

. As a junior, he recorded 65 tackles with 20 tackles for loss and nine sacks on defense as well as 14 catches for 175 yards and two

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

on the offensive side of the ball, helping lead the team to a 8–3 record and playoff berth. He had originally committed to play at BYU along with his identical twin brother but reopened his commitment after a senior year where he had 45 tackles with 8 tackles for loss and 3 sacks on defense and 10 catches for 168 yards and 1 touchdown, 5 rushes for 34 yards rushing on offense and a kick return for 75 yards on special teams. Latu committed to play

at Alabama over offers from Nebraska, USC, Utah, and 19 other schools.

College career

In 2018, Latu redshirted his true freshman season after playing in two games and recording a tackle in his college debut against

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. In 2019, Latu moved positions from

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

before his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

freshman season to add much needed depth for the Crimson Tide. Latu would see time in 11 games, mostly on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. In 2020, Latu played primarily on special teams, and began to carve out a role at tight end as a redshirt sophomore, playing in 12 games. In 2021, Latu was named the Crimson Tide's starting tight end going into his redshirt junior season. Latu caught three passes for 43 yards with two touchdowns in a 44–13 win over

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Against Southern Miss, Latu scored a touchdown by standing in the end zone and picking up a ball fumbled by John Metchie. Latu would finish his redshirt junior season with a strong showing against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the College Football Championship game with a career high five catches for 102 yards and one touchdown after Jameson Williams went down with a knee injury.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Latu was selected by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

in the third round, 101st overall, of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. Latu suffered a torn meniscus during week 3 of the preseason and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on August 29, 2023, effectively ending his first season in the NFL. Latu was waived by the 49ers on August 27, 2024.

Cleveland Browns

On August 29, 2024, Latu was signed to the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

practice squad. He was released on December 17. On December 31, the Browns re-signed Latu to their practice squad.

Philadelphia Eagles

On January 21, 2025, Latu signed a reserve/future contract with the

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bioAlabama Crimson Tide bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latu, Cameron 2000 births Living people American football tight ends American football linebackers Alabama Crimson Tide football players Players of American football from Salt Lake City Players of American football from Minnesota San Francisco 49ers players Pacific Islander American players of American football Cleveland Browns players Philadelphia Eagles players