Greg Camarillo ( ; born April 18, 1982) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

at Stanford. He was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Camarillo also played for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. He is most notable for his game-winning 64-yard touchdown reception from Cleo Lemon against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

on December 16, 2007. The play won the Dolphins the game 22–16 in overtime and was the team's first win after thirteen consecutive losses to begin the year. It was also the only game the Dolphins won the entire season and allowed them to narrowly avoid becoming the first 0–16 team in NFL history (which was later achieved by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in the 2008 season).Fialkov, Harvey. "Baltimore Ravens saved 2007 Miami Dolphins embarrassment of 0-16 season," ''Orlando Sentinel'', Sunday, October 19, 2008.
Retrieved May 14, 2018

Early years

Camarillo is Jewish. His mother is also Jewish, and her family immigrated to the U.S. from Hungary. His father was born in California, and is a professor of Mexican-American history and culture at Stanford. His Catholic paternal grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico. Camarillo was raised Jewish and celebrating both Christmas and Chanukah. Camarillo attended

Menlo-Atherton High School Menlo-Atherton High School (known as M-A to locals) is a four-year public high school secondary school located in Atherton, California. Menlo-Atherton is part of the Sequoia Union High School District.

in Atherton, California, where he was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in football and basketball. In football, he was a four-year letterman and as a senior, he was a first-team All-Peninsula Athletic League honoree and an All-San Mateo County selection. In basketball, he was a second-team All-Peninsula Athletic League selection.

College career

He turned down

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and chose Stanford, where he walked on as a punter, red-shirted his first year in 2000 and later played wide receiver for four seasons, totaling 46 receptions for 614 yards, and played on special teams for the Cardinal. He earned Academic All-Pac-10 honors for three years, graduating with a degree in product design engineering. As a junior, Camarillo caught 18 passes for 225 yards (a 12.5 per-catch average), and posted similar but slightly better statistics as a senior (19 catches for 294 yards and a 15.5 per-catch average).

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Camarillo was signed 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 ...

by the

in 2005.

Miami Dolphins

On September 2, 2007, the

claimed Camarillo off waivers. On December 16, 2007, Camarillo caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Cleo Lemon in overtime against the

, clinching the

' first and only win of the 2007 NFL season. It was the longest offensive play for the Dolphins in 2007. Camarillo had a career-high 109 receiving yards and one touchdown. This was Camarillo's first touchdown since high school, since he failed to score during his four seasons at Stanford. In the following week, a 28–7 loss to the

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 ...

, Camarillo recorded his second professional touchdown when he scored on a 21-yard pass reception. Camarillo's third pro touchdown came on October 5, 2008, on a 17-yard second-quarter pass from Chad Pennington, in a 17–10 victory over the

. On November 20, 2008, Camarillo signed a three-year, $6 million contract extension. Three days later, he caught what would be his fourth and final touchdown of the season, as later on he suffered a torn ACL against the

and was subsequently placed on season-ending injured reserve. In the 2009 NFL season, Camarillo did not drop a single pass thrown to him, earning him a reputation as a safe pair of hands in a pinch.

Minnesota Vikings

On August 25, 2010, the

traded Camarillo 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 ...

for cornerback Benny Sapp due to the Vikings' injury problems at wide receiver. He became a free agent after not being re-signed at the start of the 2012 offseason.

New Orleans Saints

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 ...

signed Camarillo on August 19, 2012. He was released as part of the final roster cuts before the start of the 2012 regular season. He was re-signed on September 11, 2012, following injuries to the saints receiving corps on the first game of the regular season. His contract with the

was terminated on October 20, 2012, to make room for Linebacker Jonathan Vilma who was activated off of the PUP list.

References

External links

Miami Dolphins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camarillo, Greg 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Redwood City, California American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American sportspeople of Mexican descent Jewish American players of American football American football wide receivers Menlo-Atherton High School alumni Stanford Cardinal football players San Diego Chargers players Miami Dolphins players Minnesota Vikings players New Orleans Saints players 21st-century American Jews Jews from California Hispanic and Latino American players of American football