Cameron Johnston (footballer)

Cameron Johnston (born 24 February 1992) is an Australian professional American football punter for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State. He formerly played Australian rules football and was on the Melbourne Football Club's list for one season in 2011.

Cameron Johnston
Johnston in 2019
No. 1 – Philadelphia Eagles
Position:Punter
Personal information
Born: (1992-02-24) 24 February 1992
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:198 lb (90 kg)
Career information
High school:St Joseph's College
(Newtown, Victoria, Australia)
College:Ohio State
Undrafted:2017
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Punts:132
Punting yards:6,229
Average punt:47.2
Longest punt:68
Inside 20:52
Player stats at NFL.com

Early life and Australian rules career

Johnston is from Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and attended high school at St Joseph's College. He played for the Geelong Falcons in the under-18 TAC Cup before being drafted to the Melbourne Football Club with the 63rd selection in the 2011 AFL rookie draft.[1][2] A midfielder, Johnston spent the 2011 season playing for the Casey Scorpions, Melbourne's affiliate team in the Victorian Football League (VFL). However, he managed only six games for Casey's senior team, instead spending most of the season in the VFL reserves (a third-tier competition).[3] Johnston was delisted by Melbourne at the season's end.[4]

College career

After failing at his AFL ambitions, Johnston signed up with Prokick Australia in 2012, an academy headed by Nathan Chapman for Australian players looking to pursue a career in the United States.[1] In 2013, he secured a full scholarship with Ohio State.[5] As a freshman, Johnston led all Big Ten punters with a 44.0 per punt average and ranked 16th-best nationally. He was named a second-team freshman All-American by College Football News later that year. In his final three years at OSU, he was part of the 2014 national championship team, earned second and first team honors in his junior and senior years respectively, and was named Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year. He also ranked academically in the Big Ten his final two years.[6]

NFL career
See also: List of players who have converted from one football code to another

Philadelphia Eagles
Johnston in a game against the Washington Redskins

Johnston signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent on 11 May 2017.[7][8][9] He was waived on 2 September 2017.[10] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Eagles on 3 January 2018.[11]

On 1 September 2018, Johnston made the Eagles 53-man roster for the 2018 season.[12] He made his NFL debut in the 2018 season opener against the Atlanta Falcons and had six punts for 313 net yards in the 18–12 victory.[13]

On 24 March 2020, Johnston was re-signed to a one-year, $660,000 contract by the Eagles.

Personal life

Johnston is the son of Joanne and Paul Johnston.

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gollark: Apparently the free books are going to be available at least to July.

References
  1. Former Melbourne Demon Cameron Johnston takes a punt on American football, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 January 2015
  2. "Aussie punter and draft prospect Cameron Johnston survives intense NFL Combine". FoxSports.com.
  3. Cameron Johnston (No.52), MelbourneFC.com.au, 12 October 2011
  4. From Melbourne rookie list to NFL punter, AFL.com.au, 30 April 2017
  5. THE TALENTED MR JOHNSTON, AFLPA, 3 September 2013.
  6. "Cam Johnston OSU bio".
  7. "Check Out The Full Rookie Camp Roster". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  8. "Ohio State Punter Cameron Johnston Signs Free Agent Contract with The Philadelphia Eagles". ElevenWarriors.com. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  9. "Eagles UDFA Profile: Cameron Johnston is consistent and versatile". BleedingGreenNation.com. 9 May 2017.
  10. "Eagles Announce 17 Roster Moves To Get Down To 53 Players". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. 2 September 2017. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  11. McPherson, Chris (3 January 2018). "Roster Moves: Eagles Sign Four Players To Reserve/Futures Contracts". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  12. "NFLAustralia on Twitter".
  13. "Aussie rookie's 'absolute bomb' stuns NFL". WWOS. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
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