Dohnte Meyers\u2019 numbers started increasing even before he played in a CFL regular-season game.<\/p>\n
Upon arriving at the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 2024 training camp as a rookie receiver from a smaller university \u2014\u00a0Delta State \u2014\u00a0Meyers was assigned a number (71) that has not been synonymous with prolific pass-catchers since the 1980s.<\/p>\n
Very soon, though, his uniform number was in the high 80s. He sported No. 88 during his inaugural pre-season and, while styling the double digits, caught a touchdown pass in Edmonton on May 25, 2024.<\/p>\n
Now, during a breakout season, Meyers is poised to play in the Alberta capital for the first time since he was a CFL neophyte.<\/p>\n
Cemented into the starting lineup as No. 88, he enters Saturday\u2019s game against the host Edmonton Elks with 54 catches for 851 yards and a team-high seven touchdown receptions for the 10-3 Roughriders.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan played in Edmonton twice last season \u2014 once when he was on the practice roster and a second time when he was injured. The latter victory clinched a playoff berth for the Green and White, which has already ensured its post-season presence for 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched it last year when the guys had that incredible win,\u201d Meyers says. \u201cJust to go out there and do it this time with them, it\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amazing is an apt description of the manner in which Meyers introduced himself to CFL regular-season play in 2024. He had 101 receiving yards in each of his first two games. In the fourth contest, he scored his first touchdown in the three-down ranks, only to suffer a season-ending shoulder injury later in the contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he got injured last year, we were all choked, just because you saw the potential,\u201d Head Coach Corey Mace says. \u201cWith what he has been doing this year, zero shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
But plenty of shock and awe.<\/p>\n
Meyers boasts four of the Roughriders\u2019 seven receptions of 50-plus yards this season. His 70-yard touchdown connection with Trevor Harris on June 20 against the host Toronto Argonauts endures as the team\u2019s longest passing play of 2025.<\/p>\n
The secret?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s his twitch and his speed and getting in and out of his breaks and his cuts at top speed,\u201d Mace says. \u201cWhen you see stuff like that, you think, \u2018Oh yeah \u2026 that\u2019s a little different.\u2019 He was one of those \u2018that\u2019s a little different\u2019 kind of guys.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he came in, he had some crazy number like 71. Anytime you see a receiver out there wearing that, your eyes are kind of drawn to that. Then, with the plays that they make, you try to figure out how to get them in an 80.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh yeah \u2026 back to the number issue and the ordinarily ominous 71.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just happy to have a jersey number and happy to have a locker and to not take any day for granted,\u201d Meyers says. \u201cI was just being grateful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understood how blessed I was to be out there, day in and day out. When your number changes, I was like \u2018OK \u2026\u2019 You don\u2019t want to look at any signs and get your hopes up. You just want to enjoy the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
That being said \u2026 88!<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got that, I was like, \u2018OK \u2026 Michael Irvin \u2026,\u2019 \u201d Meyers says with a smile. \u201cA lot of the Cowboys\u2019 receivers have worn 88.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irvin and Drew Pearson are both in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
The Cowboys\u2019 current No. 88, CeeDee Lamb, has had four 1,000-yard seasons \u2014 peaking at 1,749 \u2014\u00a0since entering the NFL in 2020.<\/p>\n
Dez Bryant, formerly of Dallas, crested at 1,320 receiving yards and 16 TDs in 2014.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not forget great 88s such as Lynn Swann (Pittsburgh Steelers), Marvin Harrison (Indianapolis Colts) and Demaryius Thomas (Denver Broncos).<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many people who have had success, so you kind of go, \u2018OK, this has some potential,\u2019 \u201d Meyers says. \u201cOf course, you don\u2019t want the number to make you, but it kind of holds some weight when you wear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meyers was a single-digit specialist until heading northward.<\/p>\n
He wore No. 5 at Norcross High School (in Georgia) and Presbyterian College (Clinton, S.C.) before transferring to Delta State University (Cleveland, Miss.) and donning No. 1 for the Statesmen.<\/p>\n
Nine Delta State alumni have played in the NFL. Six of them have been drafted, including one former Roughrider.<\/p>\n
Defensive lineman Tim Edwards, who spent the 1995 and 1996 seasons with Saskatchewan, was chosen by the New England Patriots in Round 12 of the 1991 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
Edwards, Meyers and defensive lineman Andre Brown (2001 to 2003) are the only three ex-Statesmen to play in at least one regular-season game for Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t bet against that number expanding in the years ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a slogan at Delta State: \u2018Where Champions Play,\u2019 \u201d Meyers says. \u201cWe feel like that\u2019s our motto. That\u2019s something we preach. That\u2019s kind of the standard.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving professional coaches, they preach that and they translate their success to the players. To be another one of those guys to kind of follow in the footsteps, it\u2019s an honour.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to do justice to the people before you and pave the way for the people behind you.\u201d<\/p>\n
After catching 65 passes for 877 yards and eight TDs as a senior with Delta State, he attended the Atlanta Falcons\u2019 rookie mini-camp in 2023. On Oct. 25 of that year, he signed a futures contract with the Roughriders.<\/p>\n
Meyers\u2019 myriad talents had been identified and touted by Assistant GM Paul Jones, who attended the receiver\u2019s pro day and was also impressed by his showing at a Roughriders tryout camp in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Not even two years later, Meyers is on pace to comfortably exceed 1,000 receiving yards. His seven TD catches are the most by a Roughrider since Duron Carter and Naaman Roosevelt had eight each in 2017.<\/p>\n
Individual accomplishments, as impressive as they may be, are not the focus for Meyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo contribute to team success, this is everything you dream of,\u201d the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder says. \u201cThis is my first professional football team to play on and get game experience. This is going to be my first full season under my belt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the locker room, all those things just add to the experience personally and satisfy the kid in you.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a kid growing up in Duluth, Ga., near Atlanta, professional sports were already on the radar.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first love was baseball, but I kind of wanted to play pro baseball and football like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders and other guys,\u201d Meyers says.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to be able to play the game of football is the dream, plain and simple. You dream of being able to make plays, to hear the crowd, to win, to experience the camaraderie, to be part of a brotherhood. All those things are what you wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the dream. When you take a second to kind of look up and breathe, you think, \u2018Man, this is amazing.\u2019 Then you\u2019ve got to put your head back down and go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
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