Former Mineola Chief Now Plays for Browns

It has been a long, strange trip, but a former Mineola Chief has gotten his break in the NFL.

Ronnie Cameron went unpicked in this year’s draft, only to gain an invite to training camp with the Chicago Bears. He made it through a number of weeks, but the rookie DL ended up being waived earlier this month in scenes that have become all too familiar with the likes of Hard Knocks beaming into your living room.

The ironic thing was, five teams put in claims for Cameron: the Lions, Texans, Eagles, Giants and the Browns, to whom he was awarded.

A Westbury native, the now-6’2”, 304 lb. Cameron played for Holy Trinity High School before graduating Old Dominion with a MBA in information technology.

Originally, Cameron was supposed to be a member of the Hofstra Pride, being granted a full scholarship in 2009. But the university’s decision to cut the football program let to the transfer of Cameron and 83 other student-athletes. Hofstra and Old Dominion are both part of the same conference, the Colonial Athletic Association.

He signed up for the Mineola Chiefs youth football at the age of 7 since Westbury did not have a similar program.

“At that age football was something I enjoyed doing but it wasn’t a long-term career goal. I was more so on the nerdy side as a child. I wanted to be an astronaut growing up and that soon changed to a technology analyst, which I ultimately went to school for,” he sad in an interview with the Hicksville Illustrated.

Sometimes the NFL can be a cruel mistress. This past Friday was the league deadline for the final cuts, and Cleveland was over the 53-man limit. Once more, Cameron found himself on the chopping block.

While he will not get a chance in the opening week of the 2012-13 season, ironically against Chicago of all teams, Cameron has officially been added to the team’s practice squad and could get a call up if injuries play a part in the season for the Browns.