Everything finally seemed to be coming together for Dohnte Meyers.

After a broken hand delayed the start of his 2024 season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders — his first in the Canadian Football League — Meyers returned in Week 10 against the Ottawa RedBlacks and made an immediate impact, catching eight passes for 101 yards. He put up the exact same stat line in Week 11 against the Montreal Alouettes and had a productive outing in Week 12 against the Toronto Argonauts. Entering Week 13 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, it was all systems go. In fact, he scored his first CFL touchdown in the first half.

With the Roughriders trailing in the fourth quarter, Meyers ran a post route and got open off a double move, making a catch over the middle while taking a shot from Winnipeg LB Redka Kramdi. He got up and flexed in celebration but noticed something was off. He went to the sidelines briefly and returned to finish the drive, but he still felt like something wasn't right.

Meyers had separated his shoulder. Surgery required. Season over.

"I just can't catch a break, man," Meyers said.

Meyers' journey up to that point had been defined by trials and tribulations. After converting to receiver his senior year of high school, the 5'11", 186-pound Meyers was a zero-star recruit. As a result, the only offers he had were from Division III schools. Meyers was able to play football at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, at the FCS level in large part due to his good grades. After two years and 20 starts at receiver for the Blue Hose, Meyers decided to enter the transfer portal without a set plan on where to go next.

"I'm at a crossroads," Meyers said. "I either get my degree and let things play out or take control of my own destiny."

After un-enrolling from Presbyterian, Meyers spent the Spring of 2020 sitting in the portal, training and living with his grandparents while waiting for the phone to ring. Finally, it did. One of his old little league coaches was on staff at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, and saw Meyers' name in the portal. He committed to Delta State that summer.

After Delta State canceled their 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Meyers played the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Statesmen, tallying 1,542 yards and 13 touchdowns. He did enough to be invited to Jackson State's Pro Day during the pre-draft process, a big break for the smaller prospect.

Despite a decent showing at the Pro Day, Meyers went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, but he received a rookie minicamp invite from the Atlanta Falcons. Growing up in the nearby Duluth, Georgia, it was a big opportunity. While the goal was to defy the odds and stick around, Meyers wouldn't make it past minicamp with Atlanta.

"They told me, 'You over delivered and performed way better than expected,' but I mean, it's just a numbers game at that point," Meyers said.

Just like that, he was a free agent at another crossroads. Meyers could either bow out and give up on the football dream, or he could dig in further. Having the confidence that all he needed was an opportunity, Meyers decided to go all in.

Living with his parents in Atlanta, the fresh college graduate dedicated the next six months to getting bigger, faster and stronger, saying he felt his 40-time coupled with his frame held him back in the draft process. A typical day during the summer of 2023 consisted of lifting, running, receiver drills and going to the local gym to use the pool and sauna. After that was finished, Meyers did Uber Eats and DoorDash deliveries to pay for the training sessions earlier in the day.

"[My parents] were like 'Chase your dream,' so that whole year I was just being all in," Meyers said.

After grinding through the hot summer months, Meyers' trainer, Manny Rodriguez of Ultimate 48 Performance, heard of an open tryout Saskatchewan was holding in Atlanta. He told Meyers it would be a good opportunity, so the receiver paid $100 to go to the workout.

"I balled out," Meyers said with a grin.

The Roughriders, who Meyers would later find out were at his Jackson State Pro Day a half year prior, offered him a contract a few weeks later. He signed a futures deal with Saskatchewan in November of 2023, right after the CFL season came to a close.

When May of 2024 rolled around, Meyers finally felt like his tides were turning around. Despite the broken hand forcing him to start on the Roughriders' practice squad to begin the year, the immediate success that followed his Week 10 debut seemed like a sign of things to come.

Then the injury happened. Meyers found out his season was over when a coach said it in a team meeting.

"I just can't catch a break, man."

With his world spinning as he entered his biggest crossroads yet, Meyers looked to his faith to find meaning and calm.

"That was the only thing that could really provide some stability," Meyers said. "I've got to lean on my faith because there's no way I could justify what's going on. I've got to lean on God, I have to, He's my foundation. He's got to be doing something."

Meyers found inspiration in one particular Old Testament story: The story of Joseph, the favored son of Jacob who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers and eventually worked his way to becoming the right hand of Pharoah.

"I look back at my journey, none of this is supposed to happen, none of this makes sense on paper," Meyers said. "You look at Joseph… Every step he took felt like he was moving further away from where he was called to be, and that's how I felt."

Meyers also leaned on his support system: He's very close with his family and trainers and looked to them during his recovery.

"We all felt it together, and it was just like 'we're going to get through this, this isn't it,'" Meyers said. "We didn't come this far just to come this far."

After surgery in September up in Canada, Meyers returned to Atlanta to be near his family and rehab his shoulder. When he returned to the Great White North for offseason workouts in January, Meyers said it was "all gas."

"We saw a glimpse, we got a taste, we're not going to let that define me," Meyers said. "We're going to do the real version now."

Meyers had what he described as his best statistical year of football in his life in 2025. He caught 65 passes on 87 targets for 1,056 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games, helping the Roughriders to the top seed in the Western Division for the CFL Playoffs.

"God works in crazy ways," Meyers said.

Meyers made one of the defining plays of the West Division Final. With 11 seconds to go and in subzero temperatures, he hauled in a 21-yard reception while getting crushed to set up the game-winning touchdown and punch Saskatchewan's ticket to the Grey Cup. The announcers on the broadcast said it was the biggest catch of Meyers' life, and he had to agree. He said he zoned out in the moment, only focused on one thing: Catch the ball.

"I have to catch this ball," Meyers said. "I don't know how, but I'm going to catch this ball, we're going to win this game."

He did, and the Roughriders went on to win the Grey Cup, the CFL's Super Bowl. Meyers caught four passes for 76 yards in the 25-17 win over Montreal and said he felt like the sport he loved was finally loving him back.

"Football is not always friendly," Meyers said. "That was just mentally refreshing to experience, not just all the good stuff but coupled with the story, the journey to get there…I feel like I developed a healthy relationship, not only with myself but with the game and the craft."

Meyers went right into NFL workouts after the Grey Cup in mid-November, working out with multiple teams before ultimately deciding to sign with the Bengals. While he cited the talent on the team and coaching staff as primary reasons why he decided on coming to the Queen City, Meyers also said he loved the timing and the trajectory of the organization.

"I just came from winning, the goal is to win," Meyers said. "There's high expectations… This is the cream of the crop right here. When you look at who you want to go and make history with, this is what you want to be a part of."

Meyers officially signed with the Bengals right after the 2025 season ended in January 2026, over three years after he graduated from Delta State. While it hasn't been the path he necessarily envisioned and there's still a long way to go before he steps foot on an NFL field, Meyers said he's learned to depend on his family and his faith even more over that time.

"If you achieve something that you can do by yourself, you probably didn't dream big enough," Meyers said. "This can only happen if God does it, because if not, I can't do this by myself… Everything is perfectly and divinely placed by God."

Head coach Zac Taylor said Meyers has made a solid impression so far and said he's a bit of an unknown product at the moment.

"We'll learn more about him obviously over the offseason and during training camp," Taylor said. "There's a lot of competition in that receiver room that he'll be fighting against, and we'll just see how it takes shape."

Meyers is aware of the long road ahead of him, but his determination and belief have taken him this far, one crossroad closer to his dream.

"You hear it all the time, you have to be delusional about your dreams. Looking back, I was for sure delusional," Meyers said. "You could have never told me that I wasn't going to make it to the NFL… Looking back, I was insane."