Cameron Meredith (born September 21, 1992) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

wide 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 (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in 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

Illinois State Redbirds The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level ( FCS in football). Most teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference except football (M ...

and was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2015. Meredith also played for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. After showing potential as a solid starting wide receiver at the beginning of his tenure with the Bears, his career was derailed by a series of injuries (an ACL tear, an MCL strain, and a partially torn

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

Early life

Meredith was a three-year letter winner in football, playing at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for St. Joseph High School (

Westchester, Illinois Westchester is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 16,892 at the 2020 census. History The area now known as Westchester was occupied by German farmers beginning in the mid-19th ...

). His parents are Lonnie and Tonjua Meredith.

College career

Meredith attended and played college football for Illinois State. He

redshirted 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, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his first season and then spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons as a backup

. In 2013, he transitioned to

and led the team in receptions in both 2013 and 2014. In 2014, he led the team with 66 receptions for 1,061 yards receiving, with nine

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 ...

in 15 games. Being a redshirt senior with no eligibility remaining, he entered 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 he was not invited to the

NFL 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 ...

. He impressed scouts at the

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

enough to earn several free agent offers.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

During the 2015 NFL draft, Meredith was the victim of a prank call, a person pretending to be

head coach

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick ( ; born April 16, 1952) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Widely regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he holds numerous coaching records, inc ...

stating that the team would be taking him with the 97th overall pick; instead, the Patriots took defensive end Geneo Grissom and Meredith went undrafted. Meredith signed with the

as an undrafted free agent.

2015 season

On September 20, 2015, Meredith recorded his first NFL reception against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. On October 11, Meredith caught a season-high four receptions for a season-high 52 yards against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. At the end of the 2015 season, Meredith finished with 11 receptions for 120 yards.

2016 season

Meredith began his second season as the Bears' fifth wide receiver on their depth chart behind

Alshon Jeffery Alshon Jeffery (born February 14, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, earning first-team All-Americ ...

, Kevin White,

Eddie Royal William Edward Royal (born May 21, 1986) is an American former American football, football wide receiver and Kickoff returner, return specialist. He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played college ...

, and Joshua Bellamy. On September 25, 2016, he made his season debut against 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 ...

and finished with two receptions for 24 receiving yards. On October 9, 2016, Meredith received his first career start in place of Kevin White against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

and caught nine passes for 130 receiving yards and a touchdown. He caught his first career touchdown reception on a 14-yard pass from

Brian Hoyer Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American professional American football, football quarterback. Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for eight different teams, the second-most in league hi ...

and fumbled twice, while losing one in the fourth quarter, costing the Bears the game. The following game, he caught eleven passes for 113 receiving yards during a 17–16 loss to the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

, his second consecutive career 100-yard game. In Week 10, Meredith caught a season-long 50 yard touchdown reception during a 36–10 loss over the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. On December 18, he caught nine passes for 104 receiving yards during a 30–27 loss to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

. The following week, Meredith caught nine passes for a season-high 135 receiving yards and a touchdown against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. It marked his fourth game of the season with over 100 yards receiving. In the Bears' 38–10 season finale loss to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, Meredith threw his first career touchdown pass on a two-yard pass to quarterback

Matt Barkley Matthew Montgomery Barkley (born September 8, 1990) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the USC Trojans, setting set the Pac-12 Conference season record for touchdown passes as a junior. Due to suffer ...

. He threw the pass to a wide open Barkley after receiving a handoff from running back

Jeremy Langford Jeremy Langford (born December 6, 1991) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans, and was selected by the Chicag ...

, who, in turn, received it on a direct-snap. Meredith finished the 2016 season with 66 catches for 888 yards and four touchdowns.

2017 season

Meredith was the top wide receiver on the Bears' depth chart heading into the

2017 NFL season The 2017 NFL season was the 98th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 52nd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 7, 2017, with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the defending Super Bowl LI champion ...

. He suffered a severe knee injury during the Bears' third preseason game against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. Further medical review revealed that Meredith tore his ACL and also suffered "other damage" to his knee that would force him to miss the entire 2017 season. He was placed on injured reserve on September 2, 2017. On March 12, 2018, the Bears assigned an original round tender on Meredith worth $1.907 million.

New Orleans Saints

On April 6, 2018, the

signed Meredith to a two-year offer sheet worth $9.6 million with $5.4 million in guarantees, giving the Bears five days to match the contract. On April 11, 2018, the Bears declined to match the offer sheet, officially making Meredith a member of the Saints. He was placed on injured reserve on November 8, 2018, with a knee injury. In six games with the Saints in 2018, Meredith recorded just nine receptions for 114 yards and one touchdown. On July 29, 2019, he was released by the Saints.

New England Patriots

On August 2, 2019, Meredith signed a two-year contract with the

. He was put on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on August 31, 2019. On October 1, 2019, he was released from the PUP list.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On July 1, 2021, Meredith signed with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

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 ...

(CFL) after spending the 2020 season out of football. On April 8, 2022, Meredith announced his retirement from professional football on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Statistics

References

External links

Illinois State Redbirds bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Cameron 1992 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Chicago Bears players Illinois State Redbirds football players New England Patriots players New Orleans Saints players Sportspeople from Berwyn, Illinois People from Westchester, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian football wide receivers Players of Canadian football from Illinois