There are unconventional paths to the NFL, and then there is the road traveled by Dohnte Meyers. Just a few years ago, Meyers was an undrafted Division II wide receiver living back home with his parents, spending his days training and his nights delivering DoorDash and Uber Eats orders around Atlanta. He would sometimes stay out until 3 a.m., using the money he earned to help pay for the training necessary to keep chasing a football career that offered absolutely no guarantees. Today, all of those late nights, workouts and moments when it would have been perfectly reasonable to move on have paid off: Dohnte Meyers is officially a member of the Cincinnati Bengals’ 53-man roster.

It’s the kind of story that almost sounds too perfectly written to be real, especially when you consider how many times Meyers could have accepted that football simply wasn’t going to work out. He wasn’t a coveted high school recruit, didn’t receive a Division I scholarship offer and eventually landed at Presbyterian College before transferring to Division II Delta State. Meyers developed into a legitimate playmaker there, catching 120 passes for 1,542 yards and 13 touchdowns over his final two seasons, but even that wasn’t enough to hear his name called during the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Atlanta Falcons eventually invited the Georgia native to rookie minicamp, giving Meyers his first opportunity to prove he belonged at the NFL level. He reportedly impressed the coaching staff and was told he had exceeded expectations, but Atlanta still didn’t offer him a contract. That’s usually where stories like this end. An undrafted Division II player gets his NFL tryout, doesn’t make the roster and eventually begins figuring out what comes next in life. Meyers decided he wasn’t ready for that conversation yet.

DoorDash Was Funding the Dream

Meyers moved back home with his parents and spent the next several months essentially betting on himself. He trained during the day and delivered food at night, sometimes working DoorDash and Uber Eats until the early morning hours. The money wasn’t simply paying bills; it was helping him afford the training he believed could eventually get him another opportunity in professional football. There was no team waiting for him and no promise that another workout was coming. He was investing time and money into a dream that, from the outside, probably looked increasingly unlikely.

That’s the part of Meyers’ story that stands out to me. Perseverance always sounds inspiring once you know how the story ends, but Meyers didn’t know the ending while he was driving around Atlanta delivering food. He had no idea whether another professional team would ever call. All he knew was that he wasn’t ready to stop preparing for the possibility.

Eventually, his trainer learned that the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders were holding an open tryout in Atlanta. There was a $100 registration fee, Meyers paid it and suddenly the door cracked open again. He performed well enough to earn an opportunity with Saskatchewan, although even his arrival in Canada didn’t immediately produce the breakthrough he had been waiting for. A broken hand initially landed him on the practice squad in 2024, and another injury later interrupted his season after he finally worked his way onto the field.

Meyers could have looked at that as another sign that maybe this wasn’t meant to happen. Instead, 2025 became the season that changed the trajectory of his career.

From a $100 Tryout to a Grey Cup Champion

Given a legitimate opportunity with Saskatchewan, Meyers took advantage of it. He caught 65 passes for 1,056 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games, establishing himself as one of the CFL’s most productive receivers. His biggest contribution came when the games mattered most, as Meyers made a crucial 21-yard reception with 11 seconds remaining in the Western Final that helped set up Saskatchewan’s game-winning touchdown. The Roughriders advanced to the Grey Cup, where Meyers added four catches for 76 yards as Saskatchewan captured the championship.

Think about how quickly the picture had changed. The guy who had been delivering food around Atlanta because he couldn’t get an NFL contract had turned a $100 open tryout into a 1,000-yard season and a professional football championship. More importantly, NFL teams were finally paying attention again.

Meyers worked out for multiple teams after Saskatchewan’s championship run and ultimately signed a reserve/futures contract with Cincinnati. It was the opportunity he had been working toward since going undrafted, but signing an NFL contract and actually surviving final cuts are two very different accomplishments. Cincinnati would eventually have to trim its offseason roster to 53 players, and Meyers entered camp as another player fighting for one of those precious final spots.

Then Joe Burrow sent him a text.

When Joe Burrow Calls, You Drive 460 Miles

Before training camp, Burrow wanted to get some throwing work in and asked Meyers if he was in Cincinnati and available to catch passes the following morning. There was one small problem: Meyers was in Atlanta, roughly 460 miles away.

Meyers didn’t tell Burrow he couldn’t make it. He told him he’d be there.

So he got in his car and drove overnight from Atlanta to Cincinnati, arriving in time to catch passes from the Bengals’ franchise quarterback the next morning. Burrow later shared the story publicly, using it as an example of the mentality Meyers had brought to Cincinnati.

That story probably tells you more about Meyers than any statistic could. There are hundreds of players fighting for NFL jobs every summer, and the difference between making a roster and getting released can be incredibly small. Meyers had spent years waiting for another NFL opportunity, and when the starting quarterback offered him one—even something as simple as an offseason throwing session—there was no chance he was going to let 460 miles stand in the way.

His work started getting noticed throughout Bengals camp. Ja’Marr Chase praised what Meyers was doing with his opportunities, while the coaching staff continued giving him chances to prove that his CFL production could translate to the NFL. Meyers didn’t simply have one memorable practice or preseason highlight, either. He continued producing throughout the summer, showing Cincinnati that he could contribute as a receiver while also offering the versatility needed from someone fighting for a roster spot.

Meyers Earned This Opportunity

As great as the DoorDash story is, it’s important to remember that Meyers didn’t make Cincinnati’s roster because he has an inspirational backstory. NFL teams don’t hand out roster spots for perseverance. At some point, you have to prove you can play, and Meyers did exactly that.

He entered Cincinnati’s preseason finale as the team’s leading receiver during exhibition play and strengthened his case almost immediately, catching three passes for 51 yards on the opening possession against Philadelphia. Meyers finished the preseason with 11 receptions for 121 yards while also contributing as a runner and returner, giving the Bengals several different reasons to keep him around.

That versatility matters for players at the bottom of an NFL depth chart. Cincinnati already has established stars catching passes from Burrow, so Meyers wasn’t going to make this team by simply showing he could be another traditional receiver. He needed to demonstrate that he could help in different ways, contribute on special teams and be ready whenever his number was called. From OTAs through training camp and the preseason, he kept doing enough to make the decision increasingly difficult for Cincinnati’s coaching staff.

Eventually, the decision came down.

Meyers had made the 53-man roster.

After receiving the news, he called his parents, and the emotions finally came pouring out. His family had been there when he came home after the NFL initially passed on him. They had watched him spend months training without knowing whether another opportunity would arrive, watched him deliver food to keep financing that dream and watched him leave for Canada after paying $100 just for the chance to prove himself. Now they were able to celebrate something that had once seemed incredibly far away: their son was officially an NFL player.

Sometimes the Long Way Is the Only Way

There will be bigger names catching passes from Joe Burrow this season. Meyers is joining an offense featuring Ja’Marr Chase, and making the roster doesn’t guarantee how large of a role he’ll ultimately have. There is still another chapter of this story to be written, and Meyers will have to continue proving himself if he wants his NFL stay to become a long one.

But that’s almost beside the point right now.

Dohnte Meyers has already accomplished something remarkable because of how many times his football career could have ended before it ever really began. He went from being a zero-star recruit to a Division II standout, from an undrafted free agent to delivering DoorDash orders around Atlanta, and from paying $100 for a CFL tryout to becoming a 1,000-yard receiver and Grey Cup champion. When that performance finally earned him another NFL opportunity, he drove through the night just because Joe Burrow asked if he could catch passes the next morning.

Now, after years of waiting for his shot, Meyers doesn’t have to wonder whether he’ll ever get one again. He earned it.

There are plenty of stories every year about the long-shot player who becomes a fan favorite during training camp, only for cutdown day to bring the fairy tale to an end. Dohnte Meyers made sure his story ended differently. The guy who once spent his nights delivering food so he could afford to keep chasing professional football will now spend his Sundays catching passes in the NFL.

From DoorDash to the CFL to the Cincinnati Bengals, Dohnte Meyers never stopped delivering.