Wikipedia

Cameron Johnston

Cameron Johnston (born 24 February 1992) is an Australian professional American football punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He formerly played Australian rules football and was a member of the Melbourne Football Club in 2011. He has also played in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Texans, and New York Giants.

Cameron Johnston
Johnston with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025
No. 19 – Pittsburgh Steelers
PositionPunter
Roster statusActive
Personal information
Born (1992-02-24) 24 February 1992 (age 34)
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight194 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt Joseph's College (Newtown, Victoria)
CollegeOhio State (2013–2016)
NFL draft2017: undrafted
Career history
Awards and highlights
Career NFL statistics as of 2025
Punts458
Punting yards21,622
Punting average47.2
Longest punt74
Inside 20185
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Early life and Australian rules career

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Johnston is from Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and attended high school at St Joseph's College. He played for the Geelong Falcons in the under-18 TAC Cup before being drafted to the Melbourne Football Club with the 63rd selection in the 2011 AFL rookie draft.[1][2] A midfielder, Johnston spent the 2011 season playing for the Casey Scorpions, Melbourne's affiliate team in the Victorian Football League (VFL). However, he managed only six games for Casey's senior team, instead spending most of the season in the VFL reserves (a third-tier competition).[3] Johnston was delisted by Melbourne at the season's end.[4]

College career

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After failing at his AFL ambitions, Johnston signed up with ProKick Australia in 2012, an academy headed by Nathan Chapman for Australian players looking to pursue a career in the United States.[1] In 2013, he secured a full scholarship with Ohio State.[5] As a freshman, Johnston led all Big Ten Conference punters with a 44.0 per punt average and ranked 16th-best nationally. He was named a second-team Freshman All-American by College Football News later that year. In his final three years at OSU, he was part of the 2014 national championship team, earned second and first-team honors in his junior and senior years respectively, and was named Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year. He also ranked academically in the Big Ten his final two years.[6]

NFL career

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Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split
5 ft 11+1⁄4 in
(1.81 m)		194 lb
(88 kg)		31 in
(0.79 m)		9 in
(0.23 m)		4.92 s1.73 s2.85 s
All values from NFL Combine[7]

Philadelphia Eagles

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Johnston in a game against the Washington Redskins in 2019

Johnston signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent on 11 May 2017.[8][9][10] He was waived on 2 September.[11] Johnston signed a reserve/future contract with the Eagles on 3 January 2018.[12]

On 1 September 2018, Johnston made the Eagles 53-man roster for the 2018 season.[13] He made his NFL debut in the 2018 season opener against the Atlanta Falcons and had six punts for 313 net yards in the 18–12 victory.[14] His first season as the team's starting punter ended with Johnston recording 61 total punts for 2,937 yards. His longest kick of the season was 68 yards and he punted within the 20 yard line 24 (39.34%).[15]

The following season, Johnston punted 71 times for 3,292 yards.[15]

On 24 March 2020, Johnston was re-signed to a one-year, $660,000 contract by the Eagles. In 2020, he punted for 3,318 yards, his highest with Philadelphia.[15] He was not re-signed following the season.

Houston Texans

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Johnston signed with the Houston Texans on 30 March 2021.[16] He led the league in punting yards (4,108) and total punts (88) during the 2021 season.[17]

On 25 August 2023, Johnston pulled a calf muscle. The Texans signed undrafted rookie Ty Zentner to handle punting duties while Johnston recovered.[18] On 31 August, Johnston was placed on injured reserve.[19] He was activated on 7 October.[20]

Pittsburgh Steelers

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On 19 March 2024, Johnston signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.[21] He suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 and was placed on injured reserve on 10 September.[22]

Johnston was released by the Steelers on 25 August 2025 after losing the starting punter job to Corliss Waitman.[23]

Buffalo Bills

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On 9 September 2025, Johnston signed with the Buffalo Bills, replacing Brad Robbins, who was released after week 1.[24] Johnston notably drew two crucial "roughing the kicker" penalties that proved pivotal in the Bills' wins over the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints in weeks 3 and 4, respectively, suffering an injury to his planting foot in the latter game.[25] He was placed on injured reserve following the Saints game, with the Bills signing fellow Australian punter Mitch Wishnowsky to replace him.[26] On 12 November, Johnston was released from injured reserve with an injury settlement.[27]

New York Giants

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On 10 December 2025, Johnston signed with the New York Giants' practice squad, amid an injury to Jamie Gillan.[28] He was released by the Giants on December 22.[29]

Pittsburgh Steelers (second stint)

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On March 10, 2026, Johnston signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.[30]

Career statistics

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NFL

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Legend
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP Punting
PuntsYdsLngAvgBlkIns20RetY
2018PHI 16612,9376848.1024194
2019PHI 16713,2926146.4028207
2020PHI 16713,3186646.7126274
2021HOU 17884,1086946.7037355
2022HOU 17884,2296748.1037405
2023HOU 13663,1457447.7030189
2024PIT 121035851.50128
2025BUF 373084844.00243
NYG 141824945.50091
Career10045821,6227447.211331,786

Postseason

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Year Team GP Punting
PuntsYdsLngAvgBlkIns20RetY
2018PHI 2104675446.7000
2019PHI 131364645.3000
2023HOU 294015444.60513
Career4221,0045445.60513

College

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Year Team GP Punting
PntYdsY/PLngBlck
2013Ohio State 13492,15644.0710
2014Ohio State 15482,16445.1730
2015Ohio State 13582,54943.9671
2016Ohio State 13562,61446.7700
Career542119,48344.9731

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 Former Melbourne Demon Cameron Johnston takes a punt on American football, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 January 2015
  2. ↑ "Aussie punter and draft prospect Cameron Johnston survives intense NFL Combine". FoxSports.com. 7 March 2017.
  3. ↑ Cameron Johnston (No.52), MelbourneFC.com.au, 12 October 2011
  4. ↑ From Melbourne rookie list to NFL punter, AFL.com.au, 30 April 2017
  5. ↑ THE TALENTED MR JOHNSTON, AFLPA, 3 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Cam Johnston OSU bio".
  7. ↑ "2017 NFL Draft Scout Cameron Johnston College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Check Out The Full Rookie Camp Roster". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Seger, Eric (29 April 2017). "Ohio State Punter Cameron Johnston Signs Free Agent Contract with The Philadelphia Eagles". ElevenWarriors.com. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  10. ↑ Chassen, Alexis (9 May 2017). "Eagles UDFA Profile: Cameron Johnston is consistent and versatile". Bleeding Green Nation. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  11. ↑ "Eagles Announce 17 Roster Moves To Get Down To 53 Players". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. 2 September 2017. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  12. ↑ McPherson, Chris (3 January 2018). "Roster Moves: Eagles Sign Four Players To Reserve/Futures Contracts". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "NFLAustralia on Twitter".
  14. ↑ "Aussie rookie's 'absolute bomb' stuns NFL". WWOS. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 "Cameron Johnston Career Stats". ESPN. 18 August 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  16. ↑ "Houston Texans Transactions (3-30-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "2021 NFL Punting". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  18. ↑ "Texans' Cameron Johnston: Tweaks calf". CBS Sports. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  19. ↑ "Houston Texans Transactions (8-31-2023)". HoustonTexans.com. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  20. ↑ "Houston Texans Transactions (10-7-2023)". HoustonTexans.com. 7 October 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  21. ↑ Varley, Teresa (19 March 2024). "Johnston signed to three-year contract". Steelers.com. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  22. ↑ Simmons, Myles (9 September 2024). "Report: Steelers P Cameron Johnston suffered season-ending knee injury". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  23. ↑ Varley, Teresa (25 August 2025). "Steelers make additional roster moves". Steelers.com.
  24. ↑ Glab, Maddy (9 September 2025). "Bills sign K Matt Prater and P Cameron Johnston, release P Brad Robbins". BuffaloBills.com. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  25. ↑ "Cam Johnston injury update: Bills punter hit on plant leg during play". Buffalo Bills On SI. 28 September 2025. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  26. ↑ "Bills reportedly sign new punter to replace injured Cameron Johnston". Buffalo Bills On SI. 30 September 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  27. ↑ Comeaux, Jonathan. "Bills Release P Cameron Johnston From Injured Reserve". NFL Trade Rumors. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  28. ↑ Benton, Dan. "New York Giants signing Cameron Johnston, Xavier Gipson to practice squad". Giants Wire. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  29. ↑ "NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/22/25". freep.com. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  30. ↑ Varley, Teresa. "Steelers sign Johnston". Steelers.com. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
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