Cameron Wake will always play with fire and a chip on his shoulder

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Cameron Wake entered the NFL as a free agent out of the Canadian Football League after only being pursued by a handful of teams. Wake, who came out of Penn State, didn’t make it in the NFL his first time around but now that he’s here again, he won’t ever stop proving that he belongs here.

“Everybody says hindsight is 20-20. Looking back, it’s not like I went somewhere off in a cave and turned into this ultimate defensive weapon that I am now. Again, that opportunity (was needed). Maybe whatever scouts or GM’s (general managers) were looking for, it wasn’t me at the time. But I always felt, even in ’05 when I came on, I could do everything everybody else that came out ahead of me did. Even now, I look around and the guys that came out in front of me in ’05, where are they now? I always talked about it, it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. I’m glad for the journey and the obstacles that were placed in front of me for me to overcome and I said here I am still standing today where a lot of guys who were the guys or the main hype guys back then, they’re sitting at home back when I was sitting at home in ’05. Now, I’m here playing.”

The last time the Dolphins played the Green Bay Packers was in 2010 and the Dolphins walked away with a victory. In that game, Wake, who was still somewhat of an unknown and unproven, had three sacks in that game.

“I’ve always been itching for the opportunity, all the way back then whether it was at home sitting on mom’s couch or in Canada. I just wanted somebody to give me a shot. I always said, if I went out there and fell flat on my face and I couldn’t make a play and I got blocked, at least I would have known I gave it my all and I didn’t make it. But in my heart of hearts, I knew I could play this game and I was glad that the Miami Dolphins gave me a shot to show everybody what I could do. I promised myself I wouldn’t look back. In my dreams, I definitely dreamt about these kind of opportunities and the moments that I’ve had over the past few years. I’m definitely blessed and grateful to have had that.”  

Through it all, Wake will never stop playing hard and will never stop proving to everyone he belongs here. No matter how old he is, no matter who the opponent is and no matter how the game is going, you can guarantee that Wake will be giving his complete effort every time that ball is snapped.

“The thing that you’re speaking about has a lot of different names, whether it’s the chip, whether it’s hunger, whether it’s that fire, whatever it is, it’s definitely there. Again, it has a lot of different names. Forget drafted, I wasn’t even drafted, then got picked up and got cut and sat at home for a season. So I had plenty of time to let that marinate and fester inside me. When I did get that opportunity, I told myself I’d take the bull by the horns and ride it until it’s dead. I still feel that way.

“Every day, I’m going to go out onto the field and I’m blessed and I’m honored to be able to have that opportunity. At the same time, I still every day go out there and prove myself, prove to myself day in and day out, whether it’s I’m going to beat this guy across from me in the pass rush, this guy can’t block me. That desire that doesn’t matter what obstacles are in my way, literal or figuratively, I’m going to overcome that or I’m going to die trying. Whatever you want to call it, a chip, a fire, or a hunger or whatever, not being complacent, I still have it, humble and all.”    

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