Cam Guess won’t lie about his story. “It sounds a little corny,” he said.

But he’s proud of it, and he was eager to tell it to reporters Friday at the end of the first week of Pitt’s training camp.

Guess, a Belle Vernon graduate, has been Pitt’s regular holder for extra points and field goals since 2022.

Here’s the thing about holders: No one knows their name unless they mess up.

But notoriety is not Guess’ goal. He came back to Pitt for a fifth season to win games and help kicker Ben Sauls get into the NFL. That’s right. It’s his mission.

The 2023 Pitt season didn’t go as anyone planned, and it would have been easy for Guess to take his degree in business administration, get on with the rest of his life and leave football behind.

Sauls refused to allow it. “Why end on that one?” he told Guess.

“Ben and I, we knew each other from freshman year of high school,” Guess said. Although their hometowns — Sauls is from Tipp City, Ohio — are 257 miles apart, they bonded as high school kickers and punters while sharing the same training coach.

“I had a couple talks with Ben, my family and his family,” Guess said. “We bonded so much that he kind of convinced me.”

How strong is their bond? So strong that Guess came back for his third season as the regular holder, even though he’s not on scholarship as of this writing.

“I have another year, and we can come back and do something special,” he said. “One of the goals for me was help him in any way get to the league. Obviously, he’s an NFL-capable kicker. I want to do anything in my power to help him get to that next level. He’s like a brother to me, an extra family member. I’d do anything for him. He asked, and it didn’t take a lot of convincing.”

pic.twitter.com/o5yvyGXOAz

— Pat Narduzzi (@CoachDuzzPittFB) August 3, 2024

When he’s not making trick shot videos with his fellow specialists, Guess’ Plan B was to “find a job … but I don’t think I was ready for that either.”

“I love this stuff, doing this every day,” he said.

Guess, an All-Big Eight kicker and punter at Belle Vernon, came to Pitt hoping to win a job as the regular punter. But when Kirk Christodoulou left after the 2021 season, Pitt recruited Sam Vander Haar from Melbourne, Australia, before finally settling on current punter Caleb Junko.

“I came in wanting to punt. That was the dream,” said Guess, who punted 12 times in 2022 for an average of 35.3 yards.

“It didn’t go as planned. When you’re competing in the same position, you can get a little hard-headed and want to beat the other guy. But you have to realize that’s your teammate still. You have to love him. You have to root for him, help him in any way you can.

“Caleb and I, we grew our relationship over the past year. He’s probably the second guy I’m closest with (on the team). We hang out all the time. I love the kid. He’s like a little brother. Probably the strongest leg I’ve ever seen, truthfully. He has power like I’ve never seen, NFL power.”

Guess said he credits new special teams coach Jacob Bronowski with helping him regain his confidence and “love the sport again.”

“That was a rough patch, trying to regain your footsteps. Coach Bro really helped with that. If you don’t play, sometimes you lose that confidence. He really helped me gain that back.”

Pitt is approaching a pivotal season, and Guess said he wants to help restore “that culture, that gritty Pittsburgh culture.”

“Good things are going to happen,” he said. “I think we lost some of the culture last year, some of the leadership from the older guys, including myself. That’s a big reason we struggled. My goal is to make sure everyone is on task and locked into the moment and caring about everyone.

“If I get on the field four times in a game, I want to make it perfect. I want to help the team in any way I can, whether that’s leadership or holding the ball every day.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)