As a youngster growing up in Duluth, Dohnte Meyers was already dreaming big.


“When I was 6, I told my parents I was going to be a professional football player,” said Meyers, now an undrafted rookie wide receiver and kick returner on the Cincinnati Bengals’ roster. “Around that time, you do a lot of Career Day-type projects in school about what you want to be when you grow up, and I just set my mind on playing in the NFL.”

Meyers’ parents — Tracey and Dwayne Meyers — were no doubt amused by their son’s plans and hopes but they were just as serious about his dreams as he was.

“I remember having a casual conversation with my parents about it — ‘I’m going to play in the NFL when I grow up,’” he said. “And my parents said, ‘You can do whatever you want to do if you put your mind to it.’ And they held me to what I said, even when I got older. It wasn’t just about making the NFL. It was about realizing my dream. They would not allow me to sell myself short.”

Now Meyers, 26 and a 2018 graduate of Norcross High, is one of the feel-good stories of the 2026 NFL preseason, thanks in no small part to the long path he’s followed to realize his boyhood dream. In his quest to make an NFL roster this summer, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Meyers has been profiled by ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The Athletic (among others).

“I’m very appreciative,” said Meyers of the media attention he has thus far received. “It kind of sheds light on the journey to get here. I feel it’s even more beautiful because it’s going hand in hand with the work that it’s taken to get to this point.”

For most NFL hopefuls, the route to a professional career generally begins with being drafted out of college or signing on as a free agent. For Meyers, the journey didn’t include being drafted, but it does include spending two seasons in the Canadian Football League as well as a year spent in and around Gwinnett County driving for DoorDash and Uber Eats as he earned money to pay for trainers to help prepare him for the NFL.

Now he's gone from longshot to make Cincinnati’s roster to one of the team's top producers in the preseason with eight catches for 70 yards in two games. A few days before the Bengals’ second exhibition game, Meyers displayed a quiet confidence that things were going well in his pursuit of a roster spot.

“I feel good,” he said. “I haven’t really had a chance to sit down and think of the body of work but I feel every day I’ve been competitive to make plays and just separate myself to show what I know I can do. I’m looking forward to the next two weeks.”

The NFL’s 53-man roster cut deadline is Sunday, Aug. 30. Meyers made a good impression in the Bengals’ season opener — a 16-14 victory over Detroit — recording three receptions for a team-leading 29 yards, and an 11-yard punt return.

It wasn’t that long ago that Meyers’ professional football options were dwindling by the day. After a college career that included two seasons at Presbyterian in South Carolina and three at Delta State in Mississippi, Meyers — who graduated from Delta State in 2023 — had a tryout with the hometown Atlanta Falcons, but wasn’t retained. He spent much of 2023 delivering food and working out, and then a new opportunity presented itself.

Meyers, who earned all-county honors as a kick returner while at Norcross, got the opportunity to join the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, where he played in 2024 and 2025. Last year, he caught 65 passes for 1,056 yards and eight touchdowns as the Roughriders won the coveted Grey Cup, the CFL equivalent of the Super Bowl.

“I was familiar with the CFL; a lot of coaches close to me played in the CFL and one of my mentors was very close to the game,” he said, adding he’d recently returned to Saskatchewan to receive his CFL championship ring. “He said the CFL complimented my game so well because I didn’t really have a position growing up. There were some cool nuances to the CFL game.

“I loved every bit of it. The Canadian Football League will always hold a special place in my heart. Saskatchewan is like family — my first championship playing football. I never won a championship in football before. Doing that alone was just amazing, having that experience.”

When asked how it felt to finally wear an NFL uniform and play, Meyers said, “Even though I’m technically a rookie, this isn’t my first year as a pro. So, all the nerves I had my first year in Canada, and my first preseason game and all those emotions, I’ve already been through that phase.

“For me, it was just playing football. I was more excited to finally get out there. There was no anxiety or butterflies as much as there was excitement. The last football game I played was last November. I was just itching to get my hands on the ball.”

Meyers will know where he stands with the Bengals soon, but he’s not dwelling on what happens then.

“I haven’t thought about it,” he said. “That hasn’t crossed my mind at all. I feel I’ve found a place here in Cincinnati; that’s where my mindset has been — it feels like a second home. I don’t have a Plan B, so I’m going to stick with Plan A. That’s the story of my life.”

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