Kamerion Wimbley

Kamerion Wimbley (born October 13, 1983) is a former American football outside linebacker and defensive end in the National Football League (NFL).

Wimbley graduated from Northwest High School in December 2001 (a semester early) and enrolled at Florida State in the spring of 2002.

He played in the 2002 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Wimbley was ranked 58th overall among football prospects of the class of 2002.

He selected Florida State over Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

At Florida State, Wimbley played in all 14 games including the 2003 Sugar Bowl against Georgia as a true freshman, lining up at defensive end while also earning extensive playing time on special teams throughout the season.

Wimbley finished the season as the second leading tackler among all Seminole freshmen with 17 stops, behind only A. J. Nicholson.

In the Seminoles win at Georgia Tech in early November, Wimbley recorded six solo tackles.

In his sophomore year, Wimbley was still primarily serving as back-up to Eric Moore.

Playing in all 13 games, he recorded 38 tackles (30 solo and eight assisted), 6.5 tackles for lost yardage, 2.5 quarterback sacks, two pass break-ups and seven quarterback hurries.

His first career start came against Duke, as he replaced the injured Moore and responded with a career-high tying eight tackles.

Wimbley's best game of the season came against Colorado with a career-high eight tackles (four for lost yardage), two sacks, two third down stops, two pass deflections and one forced fumble.

Still only a back-up to Moore at right defensive, Wimbley played in all 12 games as a junior.

Only against Syracuse and Virginia he replaced Moore in the starting line-up.

Wimbley finished the season with 27 tackles and 7 quarterback hurries.

Five of those came in the victory over Wake Forest.

He also had a season-high five tackles in Florida State's victory over Clemson.

As a senior, he recorded three multiple sack games and lead the ACC in sacks before suffering a knee injury against NC State.

He also led the team in quarterback hurries with 17 and set career-highs in season sacks and tackles for a loss.

He returned to the starting lineup for the Orange Bowl against Penn State, his last career game.

Despite being injured part of the season, Wimbley was named second-team All-ACC and was named All-America by Pro Football Weekly.

Although playing 4-3 defensive end at Florida State, Wimbley was considered "not big enough to play there on a consistent basis in the NFL."

Rather, he was considered an ideal fit at 3-4 rush linebacker by most NFL scouts.

For their 3-4 defense, the Cleveland Browns were in need of a run-stuffer and a pass rusher.

There was discussion that the team should pick nose tackle Haloti Ngata, but according to general manager Phil Savage, the coaching staff wanted to pressure the quarterback, so the team targeted Wimbley.

He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft with the 13th overall pick.

The Browns selected him in the first round as the 13th pick overall in the 2006 NFL Draft.

On July 22, 2006, he signed a six-year deal with the Cleveland Browns and includes $9.3 million in guaranteed money and $23.7 million total.

After being converted to outside linebacker from his college position of defensive end, he played the entire season as the starting linebacker playing opposite all-time post season sack leader Willie McGinest.

During his rookie season, Wimbley made an immediate impact leading the team and all AFC rookies with 11 sacks, to go along with 62 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 forced fumble.

He managed to fly under the radar in his rookie season despite the impressive performance, who was beaten out by 3 other rookie linebackers in consideration for the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

In his second NFL season, Wimbley failed to live up to the success of his rookie campaign, being part of a Browns defense that struggled throughout the season.

However, he still led the team in sacks with 5, and also registered 51 tackles and 4 forced fumbles.

The Raiders intended to put him at defensive end, hoping it would bring him back to his 2006 (rookie campaign) form.

Instead they moved him to strongside linebacker.

On March 14, 2010, Wimbley was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a third round pick that was previously acquired from the New England Patriots in exchange for Derrick Burgess in the 2010 NFL Draft, which was used on quarterback Colt McCoy of Texas.

He also played for the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans before retiring in 2015.

He played college football at Florida State University.

Attending Wichita Northwest High School in Kansas, Wimbley played defensive end, linebacker, quarterback, receiver and punter.

He earned Parade and SuperPrep All-America honors during his senior season and was considered to be one of the top high school athletes in the nation.