BIOGRAPHY
Cameron Heyward was born on May 6th, 1989, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a defensive end in the NFL.
Cameron Heyward attended Peachtree Ridge High School (Suwanee, Ga.), where he was a scholar-athlete, named the 2006 Georgia Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year, and helped Peachtree Ridge capture the state championship that season as a senior. He totaled 88 tackles and 11.0 sacks during his senior campaign.
Cameron is the son of former NFL and the University of Pittsburgh running back Craig “Ironhead” Heyward and Charlotte Heyward-Blackwell. His stepfather, Cory Blackwell, played football at Wisconsin. He is married to Allie Heyward and the couple has one son, Callen Grey, and a daughter, Chloe. Together, the couple started the foundation, “The Heyward House” in May of 2015.
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Heyward in the first round (31st overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. He was the seventh defensive end selected in 2011.
On July 29, 2011, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Heyward to a four-year, $6.70 million contract that included $5.41 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3.37 million.
On April 22, 2014, the Pittsburgh Steelers exercised a fifth-year option on his rookie contract paying him $6.96M in 2015.
Throughout training camp, he competed with Brett Keisel, Stephon Tuitt, and Cam Thomas to be a starting defensive end. Defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau named him the starting weakside defensive end, opposite Cam Thomas, to begin the regular season. On July 16, 2015, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Heyward to a six-year, $59.25 million extension that includes $15 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $12 million.
Heyward started at defensive end in the Pittsburgh Steelers' season-opener against the Washington Redskins and collected two combined tackles in a 38–16 victory. On October 2, 2016, Heyward recorded a season-high seven solo tackles, two pass deflections, and sacked Alex Smith a career-high three times, as the Pittsburgh Steelers routed the Kansas City Chiefs 43–14. During Week 6, he missed the first game of his career with a hamstring injury. His streak ended at 85 consecutive games and 49 consecutive starts.
In Week 4, Heyward recorded two sacks and a fumble recovery in a 26–9 win over the Baltimore Ravens, earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week. On November 27, 2017, Heyward recorded a season-high six combined tackles and had two sacks on quarterback Brett Hundley in the Steelers' 31–28 victory against the Green Bay Packers in Week 12. His performance earned him his second AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors of the season.
In week 5 against the Atlanta Falcons, Heyward recorded 1.5 sacks and 1 tackle for loss in a 41-17 blowout win. In week 10 against the Carolina Panthers, Heyward recorded 2 sacks as the Steelers won 52-21. Heyward finished the season with 51 tackles, 8 sacks, 3 passes defended, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery. He received an overall grade of 84.9 from Pro Football Focus in 2018, which ranked as the 16th highest grade among all qualifying interior defenders. In week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Heyward recorded 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble on Andy Dalton in the 27-3 win.
