A $100 tryout helped open the door to Saskatchewan for Dohnte Meyers.<\/p>\n
Two seasons, a 1,000-yard campaign and a Grey Cup championship later<\/a>, the former Roughriders receiver has turned that opportunity into a spot in the NFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meyers has made the Cincinnati Bengals\u2019 53-man roster after spending the off-season and training camp fighting for a job with the team.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Speaking with The Green Zone\u2019s Jamie Nye, Meyers said Saskatchewan played a pivotal role in getting him there.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, Saskatchewan was pivotal to me, and it had a special place in my heart because it was the first chance that I had to play professional ball,\u201d Meyers said.<\/p>\n He said his time with the Riders taught him how to be a professional while allowing him to learn from veteran players and coaches.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just helped mature me, prepare me for the stage I believe I\u2019m at now,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cThat\u2019s just something that I\u2019m grateful for, to be able to experience, be able to go across the border and adopt a new family.\u201d<\/p>\n A $100 opportunity<\/p>\n Long before Meyers knew whether he would make an NFL roster, he had to find a way into professional football.<\/p>\n That opportunity came when the Roughriders held a tryout in Atlanta.<\/p>\n Meyers paid the $100 registration fee and showed up determined to make it count.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very intentional day,\u201d he said. \u201cI went out there with a mindset to capitalize on an opportunity. I wanted to play in Saskatchewan. I wanted to play in the CFL, and I believed that was the opportunity for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyers said he didn\u2019t approach the workout like just another open tryout.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried to treat that day like a pro day,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the best opportunity for me to showcase what I have and put my best foot forward.\u201d<\/p>\n He even brought his headphones and went through the same routine he would use for a major workout.<\/p>\n Meyers already knew something about Canadian football. His trainer, Manny Rodriguez, had played in the CFL, and Meyers said his childhood mentor was also familiar with the league.<\/p>\n After failing to land a contract following an NFL minicamp, Meyers decided he would attend any professional workout available in his hometown.<\/p>\n The Riders happened to be holding one in Atlanta.<\/p>\n That decision eventually brought him north to Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n Meyers appeared in four games during the 2024 season before breaking out in 2025, recording 65 catches for 1,056 yards and eight touchdowns.<\/p>\n He capped the season by helping Saskatchewan win the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n Meyers said being part of the culture established by head coach Corey Mace helped prepare him for his next opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a chance for me to be around like-minded individuals and like-minded people with not only skill set, but a commitment to the game and towards a common goal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI just felt like home.\u201d<\/p>\n When Joe Burrow calls<\/p>\n Meyers signed with Cincinnati during the off-season, putting him into a battle for an NFL roster spot.<\/p>\n One part of that battle included an opportunity to get some extra work in with Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow before training camp.<\/p>\n Meyers said he was prepared to make the trip, even if that meant driving overnight.<\/p>\n \u201cSome things you prepare for and you have a hunch that, OK, well, if an opportunity presents itself, I\u2019m going to go. I\u2019m going to be ready for it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019ve got to drive overnight, that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyers said it was important to show that he was willing to put in the work.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking hard is something I\u2019m about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n As Meyers began turning heads during training camp and the preseason, his story also started receiving attention beyond Cincinnati.<\/p>\n He said he tried not to pay much attention to it.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad always taught me, \u2018Keep the main thing the main thing,\u2019\u201d Meyers said. \u201cI kind of let the media be the media and let me be the athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018My whole family was boohoo crying\u2019<\/p>\n Eventually came the call Meyers had spent years working toward.<\/p>\n His receivers coach told him he had made Cincinnati\u2019s 53-man roster.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was emotional,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cChoked up, trying to hold back tears. It was a long time coming, man.\u201d<\/p>\n For Meyers, the moment meant even more because he had taken an unconventional route to the NFL.<\/p>\n \u201cNot going undrafted, having to go an alternative route to kind of hear that, it meant a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Then he called his parents.<\/p>\n That was when holding back the tears became impossible.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t hold back any tears,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cThen I was boohoo crying. My whole family was boohoo crying.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyers said his family had been working toward the moment alongside him throughout his football journey.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be able to share that with them was something that I dreamed of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Still keeping an eye on Saskatchewan<\/p>\n While Meyers is beginning a new chapter in Cincinnati, he hasn\u2019t lost his connection to Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n He remains close with Roughriders receiver KeeSean Johnson, his former teammate and roommate.<\/p>\n \u201cMe and Kee are very, very close,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cMe and him have like a brother-like relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyers said the two pushed each other while playing together in Saskatchewan and have remained in contact throughout the off-season, OTAs and training camp.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just always competing and have each other\u2019s back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the fact that I met him and that we were able to grow in our new environments, our new situations. He\u2019s killing it up there, which I love.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyers even sees a little bit of his former Saskatchewan quarterback in Cincinnati veteran Joe Flacco.<\/p>\n Asked whether the 40-something Flacco reminds him of Trevor Harris, Meyers laughed and agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, yes,\u201d he said. \u201cI joke with him about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Now Meyers is preparing for his first NFL regular season as a member of the Bengals.<\/p>\n And after taking the long route from a $100 tryout to Saskatchewan and eventually Cincinnati, he has a simple message for players wondering whether taking a chance on the CFL is worth it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the best decision you can make,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful opportunity. It\u2019s an amazing game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to play professional ball and, most importantly, make your dreams a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A $100 tryout helped open the door to Saskatchewan for Dohnte Meyers. Two seasons, a 1,000-yard campaign and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-882827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}