Justin Houston, Jake Camarda earn NFL Player of the Week awards
It’s been a successful week for Georgia Football when it comes to weekly awards. On Monday, a trio of Bulldogs were named SEC Players of the Week for their performances against Tennessee. Now on Wednesday, a pair of professional Bulldogs earned recognition as NFL Players of the Week. Justin Houston of the Baltimore Ravens was recognized as AFC Defensive Player of the Week while Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Jake Camarda was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Houston and the Ravens took down the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football with the veteran recording 2.5 sacks and an interception at the Superdome. He becomes the first player in Ravens franchise history with three straight multi-sack games totaling eight sacks on the season so far in his 12th year in the league. Meanwhile, in his first, Camarda has set franchise records of his own. Just weeks after hitting a 71-yarder, Camarda hit a 74-yard punt to tie the franchise record. His 59.5-yard average on Sunday ties the highest mark by any punter with six or more punts in a game in NFL history as he helped Tampa Bay beat the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
Houston spent the first eight seasons of his NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs before playing two with the Indianapolis Colts and the most recent two with the Ravens. He earned first-team All-American and All-SEC honors during his playing days at Georgia before being picked in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Houston was an All-Pro player in 2014 when he led the league with 22 sacks and nearly broke the single-season record of 22.5.
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Camarda on the other hand is in his first season in the league after being selected in the fourth round by the Buccaneers. He held down Georgia’s starting punter job for four seasons after being the No. 1 punter in his recruiting class in 2018. The Norcross, Ga. native ranked sixth nationally in 2019 for punting average before a fourth place finish in 2020 and earning All-SEC and All-American status. In 2021, he did not qualify for NCAA rankings because he didn’t punt enough, but he was still named to the All-SEC team by both the coaches and media while he secured his spot in Georgia’s program record books as the career leader for punt average with a mark of 45.78.
Houston and the Ravens are off this week and headed into the bye with a 6-3 record and in first place of the AFC North. The Buccaneers are also in first place of their division despite being below .500 on the season. They’ll go across the pond this week to play the Seattle Seahawks in Germany on Sunday.
