09/08/2026
God as the foundation for perseverance and success.
He delivered DoorDash Until 3 a.m. and paid $100 to try out for a football team. But God had bigger plans for him!
Three years ago, Dohnte Meyers was driving around Atlanta at two and three in the morning, dropping off DoorDash and Uber orders.
He would sleep a few hours, get up at eight or nine, and train. Then he would do it all again.
On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals told him he had made their 53-man roster. He called his parents, and then he wept.
You are going to hear a lot about this young man this season. I want you to hear the part of the story the highlight shows will skip.
Nobody wanted him. Meyers was a zero-star recruit coming out of high school.
He played two seasons at Presbyterian College, a small school in South Carolina.
He transferred to Delta State, a Division II program in Mississippi.
His first season there never happened because of COVID.
He played two more years and earned all-conference honors.
No NFL team drafted him in 2023.
His hometown Atlanta Falcons gave him a tryout and sent him home.
There was no contract waiting and no agent calling. He was 23 years old with a Division II resume and a dream that made no sense on paper.
So he built his whole life around that dream anyway. He delivered food all night to pay for the training he needed.
He said he would drive until two or three in the morning, then wake up and train again at eight or nine. He has described it as structuring his entire life around chasing one goal.
Then he heard the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League were holding an open tryout in Atlanta. Anyone could come. All you had to do was pay $100.
He paid it out of the money he earned delivering takeout, showed up, and outplayed the field.
That November, the Roughriders signed him.
If this were a movie, the tryout would be the turning point. Real life was harder. In 2024, a broken hand delayed his debut.
Then a separated shoulder ended his season early. He had left his family and his country to chase this, and he kept getting hurt.
He has been open about where he turned when his body broke down.
He told the Bengals’ team website that his faith was the only thing giving him any stability, because nothing about his situation could be explained any other way.
He said he had to lean on God, that God was his foundation, and that God had to be doing something.
He found his own story in the Book of Genesis. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was falsely accused and thrown in prison. Every step seemed to carry him further from the life God had promised him. Meyers said that was exactly how his own life felt. His social media profile lists Romans 8:28, the verse that says all things work together for good to those who love God.
Joseph rose to become the second most powerful man in Egypt. He told the brothers who betrayed him that what they meant for evil, God meant for good.
In 2025, Meyers got his own turn. He caught 65 passes for 1,056 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games. He was named a league all-star.
His team won the Grey Cup, the CFL championship.
The Bengals signed him in January.
A week before training camp, Joe Burrow texted him and asked if he was in town. Meyers wrote back three words: “I can be.”
Burrow asked if he could be there at 11 the next morning. Meyers said yes.
He did not mention that he was in Atlanta. He got in his car that night and drove seven hours through the dark to Cincinnati. He showed up on time and ready to work. Burrow told that story to reporters after the first preseason game and said that is the kind of guy Meyers is.
He then earned it on the field. Across three preseason games, he caught 11 passes for 121 yards, ran for 22 more, and added 99 yards on returns. By the last week of camp he was taking reps with the starting offense and staying 40 minutes after practice to catch extra passes from Burrow.
Head coach Zac Taylor said Meyers came in, stayed consistent, put in the work, and made plays when his number was called.
Taylor said he kept players like Meyers for the locker room as much as for the stat sheet.
Meyers has never been shy about who gets the credit. After he signed with Cincinnati, he posted a video of himself giving praise with the caption “Aye look what God did!” and a reference to Psalm 37:4.
That verse says to delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
He has said that if you can reach a goal by yourself, you did not dream big enough. He believes his path could only happen if God made it happen.
He told the Bengals’ website that everything in it was perfectly and divinely placed by God.
May God Bless Dohnte Meyers - He is an exceptional role model and inspiration! 🙏🏾
