Saskatchewan Roughriders' defensive back Tevaughn Campbell knew he needed to catch up on remembering the CFL game.
"When I played… they changed the hashes. The hashes are different here, which is kind of the same as the NFL now, but I got it in my mind. CFL you're playing field to boundary, there's a big difference," Campbell told to the voice of the Riders, Dave Thomas.
"Now it's kind of not the case. The hashes and the downs are different. The way I got used to that again, the number one receiver can motion on the line. Little intricacies of CFL."
Campbell started his career with the Calgary Stampeders in 2015, then played with the Riders from 2016 to 2017 and finally with the Montreal Alouettes from 2017 to 2018. His play in the CFL got him noticed by NFL scouts, so he went down south, played from 2019 to 2024 then came back up north to play for the Riders. During his time in the NFL, Campbell made over three million USD.
"I was sitting at home for a long period saying: 'I feel like I still got it,'" Campbell recalled. "I had a long discussion with my fiancé about it, I had to return. I got to see what I got left in the tank. It was more about talking to myself: 'You can do this. You could go back out there. You could compete at this level again.' When you get released from a team, your confidence goes down, you're sitting at home thinking: 'Damn, when am I going to get another shot?' And this is my shot."
Riders' head coach Corey Mace has nothing but positive things to share about Campbell.
"When he left, in his last stint to now, he's a completely different player," Mace said. "The things that you loved about him before, he still has all those intangibles, his speed. Seeing how he's fitting, when it comes to run game, screen game, and being able to download the playbook now… being a first year in the system, he's a pro's pro from that standpoint."
Campbell appreciates the talent Saskatchewan has in the secondary.
"They know what they're doing. They talk, they communicate. They're real with you, whatever you've got going on the field. They're going to make sure you get the call, make sure you're doing the right thing," Campbell detailed. "If you're not, they're going to back you up. It's definitely a family over here. It's very tight."
