Former Tulane Football Star Suffers Season Ending Achilles Injury

A former Tulane Green Wave football star turned NFL defensive lineman got bad news out of Cincinnati Bengals training camp and is going to be out for the entire season.

Jul 26, 2023; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Cam Sample (96) walks onto the field during training camp at Kettering Health Practice Fields. / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

There was some unfortunate news for a former Tulane Green Wave fan favorite from NFL training camps on Monday morning.

After the Cincinnati Bengals finished practice, head coach Zac Taylor took to the podium to share with media that defensive end Cam Sample would miss the entire season with a torn achilles.

Sample went down a few days ago during team drills and was carted out of practice. Tests came back and confirmed the worst.

"That was unfortunate. Cam has been a huge part of our team, played a lot of different roles, been awesome in the locker room," said Taylor. "We'll obviously support him in his recovery. Plan on him being around. Surgery not been determined yet. Unfortunate for him and the team because he was a big part of it."

The 24-year-old has been with Bengals for three seasons and has racked up five career sacks and 68 career tackles. He's been a key piece to their defensive end rotation and figured to continue that role behind Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson once again this season.

He's grown consistently as a pass rusher throughout his career and was entering a contract season with the team. Luckily, it seems as though he's made his mark on the team and they'll still try to re-sign him after the year if all goes well with his recovery.

"[He is a] consistent player and consistent person. He's a top notch human being, affects everybody the right way. He's always embraced his role and kind of been a 'whatever I can do to help the team win' type of guy since we drafted him," the coach added.

The Georgia native came to the Green Wave back in 2017 and had four stellar years in college. He had 162 career tackles with 21 for a loss and 10.5 sacks. He earned a selection for the All-AAC First Team in 2020 before being selected by Cincinnati with the No. 111 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

"I can remember watching him at the Senior Bowl and watching his Tulane tape. We were so excited to have him once we got him in the draft. He's been what we hoped. Played a lot of different roles for us in a lot of different defensive looks. Played some huge games for us and been big part of what we've achieved as a team."

Hopefully the Tulane alumnus will be able to make a full recovery and return to the NFL next season.