Cameron Heyward

Early life

Heyward attended Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, Georgia, where he played for the Peachtree Ridge Lions high school football team. He was the 2006 Georgia Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year. The team tied for the Georgia Class 5A State Championship that same year. He totaled over 100 tackles and 16 sacks as a Senior. He was considered the 13th best football player in Georgia, and the 22nd best defensive tackle in the nation by 247Sports. He benched 335 pounds and squatted 510 pounds, and was considered a scholar athlete at Peachtree Ridge High School with a GPA of 3.2.

College career

As a true freshman in 2007, Heyward was named a freshman All-American by Sporting News, Rivals.com and Scout.com after recording 30 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 2 passes broken up. The Ohio State Buckeyes went to the BCS National Championship Game with Heyward as a freshman, losing to Louisiana State University, 38–24.

As a sophomore in 2008, he recorded 36 tackles and three sacks. The Buckeyes made it to another bowl game in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl against Texas, losing 24–21.

As a junior, in 2009, he had 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, leading the Ohio State Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl, in which the Buckeyes won 26–17 against Oregon. Following his junior season, Heyward decided against declaring for the NFL draft, instead returning for his senior season with the Buckeyes.

Heyward amassed 48 total tackles and 3.5 sacks in his senior season, returning an interception for a career high 80 yards against Miami. He led the Buckeyes to a berth in the Allstate 2011 Sugar Bowl, beating the Arkansas Razorbacks 31–26.

Heyward finished his career at Ohio State with 163 tackles, 37.5 tackles for loss, 15.5 sacks.

Personal life

Heyward was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father Craig "Ironhead" Heyward was a former NFL fullback. His father died from cancer, and Cameron was fined by the NFL for uniform violations when he displayed his father's nickname in an eye black message during the NFL's 2015 Breast Cancer Awareness campaign. Cameron stated that being part of the NFL was a blessing and he wanted to honor his dad and raise cancer awareness.

During Heyward's freshman year at Ohio State University, he began dating Allie Schwarzwalder and proposed to her on New Year's Eve 2012 at Savoy. On May 11, 2013, they were married at the Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They have three children, born in 2015, 2017, and 2019.

Heyward has three brothers. His younger brother, Corey Heyward, played college basketball for Georgia Tech. His youngest brother Connor played as a tight end for Michigan State. On April 30, 2022, the Steelers drafted Connor as a tight end in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft.