Cameron Wake had a solid career at Penn State, but he went undrafted in 2005. The New York Giants gave him a look, but he didn’t stick. Instead of walking away, he headed to the Canadian Football League and signed with the BC Lions. In two seasons there, he made the All-Star team both years and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player both years. That kind of production got NFL teams interested, and the Miami Dolphins signed him in 2009 after he worked out for several clubs.

He started only once as a rookie, but the pass-rushing ability was obvious. The next two seasons he lined up at linebacker. In 2010, he made his first Pro Bowl and led the NFL in tackles for loss with 22. The Dolphins moved him to defensive end in 2012, and the production stayed high. He made the Pro Bowl in four of the next five years, earned first-team All-Pro in 2012 with a career-high 15 sacks, and finished with double-digit sacks four other times. Even in years when the rest of the roster was up and down, Wake was usually the one constant on the edge.

What made him effective in those peak years was his first-step quickness and the way he used his hands. He was not the biggest edge rusher, but he got off the line fast, converted speed to power, and finished rushes. Quarterbacks had to account for him on every dropback, and even when the rest of the defense was inconsistent, he kept creating pressure. The 15-sack season and the string of Pro Bowls marked the high point of his time in Miami, and he finished second on the franchise’s all-time sack list behind only Jason Taylor.

Wake left for the Tennessee Titans in 2019 after ten seasons with the Dolphins. He finished two sacks shy of 100 and three forced fumbles short of 20 with the Dolphins.