Forged by FAU - Tyler Cameron
11/29/2020
I’ll always say FAU is my school. FAU is my home. I’ll always be a part of FAU in some capacity, because of what they gave me, and that scholarship gave me so much. It taught me a lot. Those are the days I was growing from a kid to a man, at FAU. I really had to get my [stuff] together, and really grind and push myself. And I was proud of the person I became when I left FAU. It really put me on the path to succeed.
Gallery: Tyler Cameron Forged by FAU
Florida Atlantic University gave Tyler Cameron more than a scholarship, education and an opportunity to extend his football career. It gave him a home.
“I’ll always say FAU is my school,” said Cameron, whose mother was an FAU alum and brother, Ryan, is a current Owls tight end. “FAU is my home. I’ll always be a part of FAU in some capacity, because of what they gave me, and that scholarship gave me so much. It taught me a lot. Those are the days I was growing from a kid to a man, at FAU.
I really had to get my [stuff] together, and really grind and push myself. And I was proud of the person I became when I left FAU. It really put me on the path to succeed.”
Cameron narrowly found that path in 2015. A Jupiter High product and one of the nation’s top-10 dual-threat quarterbacks from 2012, Cameron signed with Wake Forest but played sparingly over his two non-redshirt years in 2013 and ‘14. Cameron graduated a year early in 2015 and decided to spend his final two years of eligibility elsewhere.
But few programs vied for his services. Cameron, who held 26 scholarship offers as a high school recruit, had only one as a graduate transfer: Wagner. Then, late in the process, FAU gave Cameron his second offer and made the choice easy.
“To come back home and play 30 minutes from where I live in Jupiter and be by the beach,” said Cameron, who paused to reflect then added, “playing at FAU is playing in ‘Paradise.’ My best years in college were at FAU, definitely.”
Cameron joined FAU in June 2015 as a quarterback. But upon seeing a thin tight end room, he requested to switch positions.
Displaying his inexperience at tight end, Cameron dropped his first two targets. The next time a ball came his way, however, he turned a short pass into a huge catch-and-run. Cameron’s next test was blocking. And on his first rep, he drove current San Francisco 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair 18 yards back, generating a scuffle between the offense and defense.
“It created so much great energy during practice,” Cameron said of his tight end debut. “So that next day Coach [Charlie Partridge] says, ‘OK, you’re not a QB anymore. You’re a tight end full time.’”
The position switch served Cameron and FAU well. Cameron posted a combined 41 catches, 509 yards and a touchdown over the 2015 and ‘16 seasons. He never missed a game for the Owls.
FAU rewarded Cameron’s production and durability by naming him its 2015 Newcomer of the Year and 2016 Student-Athlete of the Year. The program embraced him with open arms, and Cameron remains grateful for it.
“It was a brotherhood,” said Cameron, whose favorite FAU memories include beating FIU and nearly upsetting Florida in 2015. “I came in and they let me be a part of it. It was a blast.”
After the 2016 season, Cameron entered the professional football ranks. He had two stints with the Baltimore Ravens, but the team cut him both times. Cameron was “bummed” he couldn’t latch onto Baltimore’s final roster yet kept training and waiting for his opportunity.
Cameron thought the best way to earn that opportunity was to get live game reps. He joined The Spring League, an NFL developmental league, to do exactly that. But on the first play of his final game, Cameron suffered a career-ending shoulder injury while catching a pass.
“Alright, my football is done,” Cameron remembered thinking. “Back to the books.”
And back to Boca Raton. Cameron completed his FAU MBA in 2018, helping him earn a general contractor’s license shortly after.
“I learned more in those two years in the MBA program than all my years in school,” Cameron said. “I really had to push myself, I really had to learn. And what I learned from it too is it gave me so much confidence. I was a communications major; I was never a business major. So, going into the MBA program and having all these business classes, it was hard. But what I learned from getting better, getting an A in Accounting II, Finance, getting A’s in those classes, it gave myself the confidence and belief in myself [that] ‘OK, I can take on anything.’”
Anything included “The Bachelorette,” ABC’s long-running matchmaking series. Last year, Cameron was one of 30 contestants vying for a final rose from the eponymous Hannah Brown. Cameron finished as the runner-up behind Jed Wyatt, a Tennessean singer/song writer.
Cameron says his Bachelorette experience was a “blast” and one he learned “a ton” about himself from. The show was also a profitable experience for Cameron, as he’s partnered with numerous companies such as Optimum Nutrition, Heineken and Verizon since.
“It’s changed my life,” Cameron said. “I’m able to take care of my family, take care of my little brothers, travel and experience things. It’s been a true blessing.”
In April, Cameron made his return to the world’s living rooms with “Barkitecture.” The show, which aired on the now defunct Quibi, saw Cameron construct miniature luxury homes for celebrity-owned dogs. Those featured included actor Joel McHale, R&B artist Teyana Taylor, reality TV star Lisa Vanderpump and more.
Cameron enjoys television and wants to continue doing it. He also recognizes its profound impact on the career he loved first, the one FAU prepared him for: construction.
“It’s allowed me to do the stuff I loved before,” Cameron said. “I’m going to go buy a lot, build a house on it, sell it, get back into the construction world. That’s all the stuff I want to continue to do. That’s a career that can live long. This fame, notoriety stuff, it has an expiration date to it.”
The MBA Cameron earned at FAU, conversely, has no expiration date. Nor do the lessons he learned while pursuing it. FAU gave Cameron a home, the foundation necessary for the success he’s had thus far.
“Going through the MBA program while playing football there really gave me that confidence and mental fortitude that I can do anything if I put my mind to it,” Cameron said. “And that right there is worth more than the education. That right there has helped me with so many things now. And it’s just prepared me to be into the positions I’m in today.”