American football linebacker (born 2001)
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.
Early life.
Njongmeta was born in Cameroon, and moved to the United States in 2004.
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. He committed to play college football at the University of Wisconsin over other schools such as Iowa State, Navy, and Tulane.
College career.
In Njongmeta's first two seasons in 2019 and 2020, he redshirted and only appeared in one game in which he recorded no statistics. In the 2021 season, Njongmeta totalled four tackles in two games. In week three of the 2022 season, Njongmeta tallied his first career interception, as he helped the Badgers rout New Mexico State 66–7. In week eleven Njongmeta recorded a sack to help end a drive, but Wisconsin ended up losing to Iowa 24–10. 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. 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. 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. For his performance on the season, Njongmeta was named third team all-Big Ten by the media. 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.
Professional career.
Njongmeta signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2024. Njongmeta was among the 53 players to make the Bengals' Week 1 roster.
References.
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