Cameron Johnston
Australian-born American football player (born 1992)
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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.
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Johnston with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025 | |||||||||||||
| No. 19 – Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Punter | ||||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | 24 February 1992 Geelong, Victoria, Australia | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 194 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | St Joseph's College (Newtown, Victoria) | ||||||||||||
| College | Ohio State (2013–2016) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2017 (undrafted) | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2025 | |||||||||||||
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Early life and Australian rules career
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
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
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 194 lb (88 kg) | 31 in (0.79 m) | 9 in (0.23 m) | 6 ft 1+5⁄8 in (1.87 m) | 4.92 s | 1.74 s | 2.85 s | |||||
| All values from NFL Combine[7][8][9] | ||||||||||||
Philadelphia Eagles
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Johnston signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent on 11 May 2017.[10][11][12] He was waived on 2 September.[13] Johnston signed a reserve/future contract with the Eagles on 3 January 2018.[14]
On 1 September 2018, Johnston made the Eagles 53-man roster for the 2018 season.[15] 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.[16] 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%).[17]
The following season, Johnston punted 71 times for 3,292 yards.[17]
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.[17] He was not re-signed following the season.
Houston Texans
Johnston signed with the Houston Texans on 30 March 2021.[18] He led the league in punting yards (4,108) and total punts (88) during the 2021 season.[19]
On 25 August 2023, Johnston pulled a calf muscle. The Texans signed undrafted rookie Ty Zentner to handle punting duties while Johnston recovered.[20] On 31 August, Johnston was placed on injured reserve.[21] He was activated on 7 October.[22]
Pittsburgh Steelers
On 19 March 2024, Johnston signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.[23] He suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 and was placed on injured reserve on 10 September.[24]
Johnston was released by the Steelers on 25 August 2025 after losing the starting punter job to Corliss Waitman.[25]
Buffalo Bills
On 9 September 2025, Johnston signed with the Buffalo Bills, replacing Brad Robbins, who was released after week 1.[26] 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.[27] He was placed on injured reserve following the Saints game, with the Bills signing fellow Australian punter Mitch Wishnowsky to replace him.[28] On 12 November, Johnston was released from injured reserve with an injury settlement.[29]
New York Giants
On 10 December 2025, Johnston signed with the New York Giants' practice squad, amid an injury to Jamie Gillan.[30] He was released by the Giants on December 22.[31]
Pittsburgh Steelers (second stint)
On March 10, 2026, Johnston signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.[32]
Career statistics
NFL
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | Punting | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Punts | Yds | Lng | Avg | Blk | Ins20 | RetY | |||
| 2018 | PHI | 16 | 61 | 2,937 | 68 | 48.1 | 0 | 24 | 194 |
| 2019 | PHI | 16 | 71 | 3,292 | 61 | 46.4 | 0 | 28 | 207 |
| 2020 | PHI | 16 | 71 | 3,318 | 66 | 46.7 | 1 | 26 | 274 |
| 2021 | HOU | 17 | 88 | 4,108 | 69 | 46.7 | 0 | 37 | 355 |
| 2022 | HOU | 17 | 88 | 4,229 | 67 | 48.1 | 0 | 37 | 405 |
| 2023 | HOU | 13 | 66 | 3,145 | 74 | 47.7 | 0 | 30 | 189 |
| 2024 | PIT | 1 | 2 | 103 | 58 | 51.5 | 0 | 1 | 28 |
| 2025 | BUF | 3 | 7 | 308 | 48 | 44.0 | 0 | 2 | 43 |
| NYG | 1 | 4 | 182 | 49 | 45.5 | 0 | 0 | 91 | |
| Career | 100 | 458 | 21,622 | 74 | 47.2 | 1 | 133 | 1,786 | |
Postseason
College
| Year | Team | GP | Punting | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |||
| 2013 | Ohio State | 13 | 49 | 2,156 | 44.0 | 71 | 0 |
| 2014 | Ohio State | 15 | 48 | 2,164 | 45.1 | 73 | 0 |
| 2015 | Ohio State | 13 | 58 | 2,549 | 43.9 | 67 | 1 |
| 2016 | Ohio State | 13 | 56 | 2,614 | 46.7 | 70 | 0 |
| Career | 54 | 211 | 9,483 | 44.9 | 73 | 1 | |
