After a whopping nine seasons of playing college football, Cam McCormick is heading to the NFL, just not as a player.
McCormick, who played tight end at Oregon and then Miami, posted on his Instagram page that he’d been hired by the New England Patriots as a scouting assistant.
"Same game, different role," he wrote.
McCormick went undrafted and unsigned after heading to the NFL at the age of 27. Landing a front office role is the conclusion to one of football’s most unique career paths.
McCormick is believed to be the first player to be granted a ninth year of eligibility by the NCAA. This was made possible by McCormick using a normal redshirt season, an extra season granted by the COVID-19 pandemic and three exemptions that gave him an extra year of eligibility due to medical hardship.
The former tight end landed at Oregon as a freshman all the way back in 2016. He redshirted his first season and then used his first year of eligibility in 2017.
Then things took a turn. McCormick suffered a devastating leg injury in 2018 and received a medical redshirt waiver. He received another medical redshirt waiver after complications in his recovery forced him to miss all of 2019.
In 2020, McCormick underwent another surgery as he continued to work his way back to the field. He was granted an extra year due to the NCAA granting a waiver for players due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, McCormick suffered another major injury in his second game. This time, it was a torn Achilles tendon. The tight end was granted a third medical hardship waiver, giving him another year of eligibility.
Finally, in 2022, McCormick returned to the field for what was effectively his redshirt sophomore season. By that time, McCormick had earned a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and a Master’s degree in advertising and brand responsibility from Oregon.
In 2023, McCormick then transferred to Miami, where he played out his final two seasons.