Riders’ Tevaughn Campbell back in familiar territory with CFL return

WATCH: As Jacob Carr explains, it's been almost a decade since Tevaughn Campbell repped the green and white, but the former NFL'er is returning to Sask.

It had been nearly a decade since Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive back Tevaughn Campbell had worn the green and white. Before the team signed him to the roster in February, Campbell spent one year with Saskatchewan back in 2016, the final year that old Mosaic Stadium played host to the team. Now, after several NFL stops including the New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Jacksonville Jaguars, Campbell’s journey has brought him back to Regina.

“From the coaches to the staff, it’s kind of familiar to me,” said Campbell. “I know a lot of the people that are still here from when I was here back in 2016 and then I know a lot of the coaches, when I was playing, I played with them.”

Campbell, who is also a former Regina Ram and clocked an impressive 4.35 seconds in the 40-yard -dash at the 2015 CFL Combine, also feels a lot has changed in that nine-year gap, but he also still holds fond memories of his brief first tenure with the Riders.

“When I first came here, I got my son a jersey, all that kind of stuff. Obviously it doesn’t fit now since it’s nine years later and it’s just crazy coming back,” he said with a laugh.

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Campbell will now get to enjoy all the amenities that the updated new Mosaic Stadium provides for the first time. On the field, the 31-year-old has already made a positive impression on the coaching staff.

“He’s extremely bright, has all the twitch and speed in the world, cerebral player,” said head coach Corey Mace. “And only getting better with the comfort of the system, and the people that he’s playing next to. So, his trajectory is consistently climbing which is really good to see.”

Being back on Canadian soil after spending an extended period of time playing with NFL rules has been and adjustment for Campbell.

“You could tell because Mace and Bell kept coming up to me and saying it’s not the NFL bro; it’s not the NFL. But you got to adjust to the field, definitely the waggle, to a lot of the rules again. I got a short-term memory, so I sort of blocked all that stuff out of my mind and now I got to re-train myself to remember.”

Campbell also says he feels like this is a new chapter of his career, having dealt with some injuries and not seeing the field often during the past few seasons.

“The last few years of my career, my journey was a lot of uncertainty but just going out there and being able to play, being able to put it all out on the line. It’s the regular season and playing with the guys beside me is something special.”

Campbell is expected to start at field side cornerback for the Riders in Thursday night’s season opener against Ottawa.