Cameron Wake

For the English cricketer, see Cameron Wake (cricketer).
Cameron Wake

refer to caption

Wake in the 2014 NFL season
No. 91 Miami Dolphins
Position: Defensive end
Personal information
Date of birth: (1982-01-30) January 30, 1982
Place of birth: Beltsville, Maryland
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 270 lb (122 kg)
Career information
High school: Hyattsville (MD) DeMatha
College: Penn State
Undrafted: 2005
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
NFL
CFL
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2015
Total tackles: 257
Sacks: 70.0
Forced fumbles: 16
Fumble recoveries: 2
Player stats at NFL.com

Derek Cameron Wake (born January 30, 1982) is an American football defensive end for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Penn State University, and was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2005.

Wake has also played for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), earning the league's Most Outstanding Rookie Award in 2007. He recorded 39 sacks over his first two seasons in the CFL, earning Western Division All-Star honors as well as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award both years.

Early years

Born in Beltsville, Maryland, Wake grew up in the suburban Washington, D.C. area and attended DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.[1] During his senior season of 1999, Wake was named the Washington Post Defensive Player of the Year.[1]

College career

Following high school, Wake received an athletic scholarship to attend Pennsylvania State University, where he played for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. He played mainly as a linebacker for the Nittany Lions, but also played the defensive end position. Wake finished his collegiate career with 191 total tackles, 8.5 quarterback sacks, and 24 tackles for a loss.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Prior to the 2005 NFL Draft, Wake worked out at Penn State's Pro Day and ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash.[2]

New York Giants

Following his college career, Wake joined the New York Giants in April 2005 but was released in June.

BC Lions

Wake signed a free agent contract with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League in May 2007. Switching from linebacker to defensive end, a rejuvenated Wake had an immediate impact with the team, and was named the Defensive Player of the Week for the first week of the 2007 CFL season after an impressive debut (7 tackles, 3 quarterback sacks) in a 24–22 Lions' victory over the Toronto Argonauts.[3]

Wake finished the 2007 season with a league-best 16 sacks and had the only blocked field goal in the CFL that season.[4] He racked up 72 tackles on his way to becoming the first player in CFL history to be named Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.[5]

In 2008, Wake once again led the CFL in sacks (with 23) on his way to another CFL All-Star team selection, a second consecutive Norm Fieldgate Trophy, and he was a unanimous nomination for the CFL's 2008 Most Outstanding Defensive Player award.[6] In 2008, Wake was also named TSN's Friday Night Gladiator of the Year, the first defensive player to win the award.[7]

He was named to The Washington Examiner's CFL All-Decade Team for 2000–2009.[8]

Miami Dolphins

"I wanted to eliminate all the fluff. It wasn't about whoever offered the biggest deal. It was about the coaching staffs, the opportunity, the organizations. Miami put themselves above the others in those things."

Cameron Wake, January 2009[9]

At the end of the 2008 CFL season, Wake drew interest from several NFL teams, including the Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings. He worked out for the Dolphins on January 15, 2009.[10]

After receiving interest from 17 total NFL teams and working out for eight, Wake signed with the Dolphins on January 18, 2009.[2] The four-year deal included a $1 million signing bonus and could be worth up to $4.9 million.[2]

Wake started the first game of his NFL career during the 2009 season against the Bills in week four and responded with two sacks, four tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble. During the 2010 season Wake had a memorable Week 6 against the Packers. Wake had 3 sacks including one on 3rd down in overtime bringing his total to 6 sacks in 5 games already surpassing his total last year of 5½ sacks with limited playing time. He ended a game against the Jets with a sack on quarterback Mark Sanchez completing his second of the game. Cameron Wake would lead the NFL in sacks at one point and eventually finished 3rd in the NFL (2nd in the AFC) in sacks. By the end of the season, Wake had recorded 14 sacks, 57 tackles, and 3 forced fumbles.

Wake was named a starter for the 2011 AFC Pro Bowl team at outside linebacker.[11] Wake was also named to The Sporting News 2010 All-Pro Team and AP's Second All-Pro team. He was 3rd in the league with 52 quarterback pressures, behind only Chris Long and Julius Peppers.

On May 5, 2012 Wake signed a 4-year extension with the Miami Dolphins reported to be worth a total of $49 million, $20 million of which is guaranteed.[12]

After being moved from Outside Linebacker to Defensive End for the 2012 season, Wake had, arguably, his best season in the NFL. He totaled 53 tackles and 15 sacks, including 4.5 sacks in one game against the Arizona Cardinals. That season Wake was named a starter to the Pro Bowl for the second time and, together with Randy Starks, became the first of two Dolphins to make the Pro Bowl at two different positions. He was also named a First-Team All-Pro by both the AP and the PFWA for the first time in his career.

Wake earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9 of the 2013 season, racking up five tackles, three sacks, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and recorded a safety in the Dolphins’ 22–20 overtime victory.[13] Wake sacked Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton in overtime for a safety to end the game, giving the Dolphins a 22–20 victory. It was only the third game in NFL history to end with an overtime safety.[14] He ended the season with 8.5 sacks and another Pro Bowl selection.

After an unproductive start to the 2015 season, in which the Dolphins were 1-3 and Wake had 1 tackle, head coach Joe Philbin was fired and replaced with tight ends coach Dan Campbell. Wake returned to his dominant form, recording 6 sacks and 4 forced fumbles in a 2-week span, which were both wins against the Titans and Texans. In a game against the Patriots, Wake notched his seventh sack, good for second on the NFL leaderboard, but he was also injured and carried off the field on a later play. On October 30, 2015, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported, due to an Achilles injury, that Wake was out for the rest of the 2015 NFL season.[15]

Season statistics

Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
Year Team G Comb Solo Ast Sack SFTY PDef Int TDs Yds Avg Lng FF
2009 Miami Dolphins 14 23 19 4 5.5 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 1
2010 Miami Dolphins 16 57 48 9 14.0 0 4 0 0 0 0.0 0 3
2011 Miami Dolphins 16 42 37 5 8.5 0 3 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
2012 Miami Dolphins 16 53 38 15 15.0 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 3
2013 Miami Dolphins 15 42 37 5 8.5 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 2
2014 Miami Dolphins 16 38 32 6 11.5 0 3 0 0 0 0.0 0 3
2015 Miami Dolphins 7 9 7 2 7.0 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 4

References

  1. 1 2 "NFLFans.com Prospect Profile - Derek Wake". NFLFans.com. 2005. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  2. 1 2 3 "Dolphins import pass rusher Wake from CFL". NFL.com. 2009-01-18.
  3. ↑ "Lions Cameron Wake Defensive Player of the Week". BCLions.com. 2007-07-04. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  4. ↑ "Outstanding Performances in 2007". bclions.com. 2008-02-04. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  5. ↑ Bodani, Frank (2008-02-18). "Wake finds his potential as B.C. Lion". The Evening Sun. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  6. ↑ "CFL team-by-team individual awards nominees". The Canadian Press. 2008-10-28. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  7. ↑ "Lions' Wake Named TSN's Friday Night Gladiator of the Year". TSN. 2008-11-22.
  8. ↑ Hamelin, Jonathan (2010-01-02). "The CFL All-Decade Team". The Washington Examiner.
  9. ↑ "Cameron Wake: 'I know I can play' in the NFL". Herald.com. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  10. ↑ "CFL Stud Cameron Wake Works out for Dolphins". The Palm Beach Post. 2009-01-15. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Jake Long, Cameron Wake Named Pro Bowl Starters". The Miami Dolphins. 2010-12-28. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010.
  12. ↑ La Canfora, Jason (May 6, 2012). "Miami Dolphins, Cameron Wake agree to four-year extension". NFL.
  13. ↑ "Cameron Wake Named AFC Defensive Player Of The Week". Miami Dolphins. November 6, 2013.
  14. ↑ "WAKE SACKS DALTON FOR SAFETY IN OT, DOLPHINS TOP BENGALS". TSN. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  15. ↑ "Cameron Wake of Miami Dolphins out with Achilles injury". Espn.go.com. 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2015-11-02.

External links

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