Maema Njongmeta (born March 9, 2001) is a Cameroonian-American professional football linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers.
| No. 45 – Cincinnati Bengals | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | March 9, 2001 Yaounde, Cameroon |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight: | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Stevenson (Lincolnshire, Illinois) |
| College: | Wisconsin (2019–2023) |
| Undrafted: | 2024 |
| Career history | |
| |
| Roster status: | Active |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at Pro Football Reference | |
Early life
editNjongmeta was born in Cameroon, and moved to the United States in 2004.[1]
Njongmeta's hometown is Buffalo Grove, Illinois and attended Stevenson High School. In his high school career he notched 196 tackles with 34 going for a loss, 19 sacks, three fumble recoveries, and two forced fumbles.[2] He committed to play college football at the University of Wisconsin over other schools such as Iowa State, Navy, and Tulane.[3][4]
College career
editIn Njongmeta's first two seasons in 2019 and 2020, he redshirted and only appeared in one game in which he recorded no statistics.[5] In the 2021 season, Njongmeta totalled four tackles in two games.[6] In week three of the 2022 season, Njongmeta tallied his first career interception, as he helped the Badgers rout New Mexico State 66–7.[7] In week eleven Njongmeta recorded a sack to help end a drive, but Wisconsin ended up losing to Iowa 24–10.[8] In week twelve, Njongmeta notched 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack, as helped the Badgers become bowl eligible by beating Nebraska 15–14.[9] In the Badgers season finale, Njongmeta had a career performance, tallying 12 tackles with 2.5 going for a loss, and 0.5 sack, but Wisconsin fell to Minnesota 23–16.[10] Njongmeta finished his breakout 2022 season with 95 tackles with 11.5 being for a loss, 3.5 sacks, a pass deflection, and an interception.[11] For his performance on the season, Njongmeta was named third team all-Big Ten by the media.[12][13] Ahead of the 2023 season, Njongmeta was named to the watch list for multiple awards: the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Rotary Lombardi Award, the Bednarik Award, and the Butkus Award.[14][15][16][17]
College statistics
edit| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | Int & Fum | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Solo | Ast | Cmb | TfL | Yds | Sck | Int | PD | FF | FR | ||
| 2019 | Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | Redshirted | |||||||||
| 2020 | Wisconsin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Wisconsin | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Wisconsin | 13 | 11 | 48 | 47 | 95 | 11.5 | 40 | 3.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Wisconsin | 13 | 10 | 30 | 29 | 59 | 8.5 | 16 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Career | 33 | 21 | 80 | 78 | 158 | 20.0 | 56 | 6.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 11 3⁄4 in (1.82 m) |
229 lb (104 kg) |
32 1⁄8 in (0.82 m) |
9 3⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
4.80 s | 1.68 s | 2.75 s | 4.61 s | 7.32 s | 34.5 in (0.88 m) |
9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) |
15 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[18][19][20] | ||||||||||||
Njongmeta signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2024.[21] Njongmeta was among the 53 players to make the Bengals' Week 1 roster.
References
edit- ^ Bartholomew, Colten (April 19, 2024). "The greater meaning behind Wisconsin football's most interesting name". BadgerExtra. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
- ^ "Maema Njongmeta's Football Stats". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Flood, Evan. "Njongmeta Commits to Wisconsin". 247Sports. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Pope, LaMond. "On Wisconsin: Stevenson linebacker Maema Njongmeta verbally commits to play for the Badgers". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ "Maema Njongmeta". Wisconsin Badgers University Athletics. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ "Maema Njongmeta 2021 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Madsen, Tamira. "Allen's 3 TDs spark Wisconsin in 66-7 rout of New Mexico St". AP News. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Belz, Mtt. "Wisconsin falls to Iowa 24-10 in a mistake-filled loss". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Belz, Matt. "Wisconsin is going bowling after a 15-14 comeback win at Nebraska". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Belz, Matt. "Game recap: Wisconsin loses at home to Minnesota 23-16". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ "Maema Njongmeta 2022 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Viviani, Nick. "Badgers' Herbig named to All-Big Ten first team". NBC15. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ "Badgers LB Herbig named consensus first-team All-Big Ten". Bally Sports. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Hanley, Zach. "Mordecai, Allen named to Maxwell award watch list". Fox47. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ Olinger, Daniel. "Indiana's Aaron Casey Named to Butkus Award Preseason Watch List". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ Olinger, Daniel. "Indiana's Andre Carter Named to Bednarik Award Preseason Watch List". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ Low, Asher. "Wisconsin LB Maema Njongmeta named to another watch list". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ "Maema Njongmeta Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
- ^ "2024 NFL Draft Scout Maema Njongmeta College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
- ^ "How every Badger performed at the 2024 Wisconsin football pro day". BadgersWire.USAToday.com. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
- ^ "Bengals Sign 14 College Free Agents". Bengals.com. May 10, 2024.