With 622 receptions, more than 10,000 yards and 75 touchdowns to his credit, no one can ever say that switching to receiver was a mistake for Jeremaine Copeland.

But there were times during his all-star career that Copeland couldn’t help but play the what-if game.

On one hand, once he was established in the CFL, Copeland turned the page on his NFL aspirations, which included a training camp with the Dallas Cowboys.

“I think there comes a point when you stop thinking about it,” he explained. “You can’t linger in the past too long or it’ll draw you into a black hole. The way I see it is that God had something different for me to do. He put me where I needed to be. I think it’s been a blessing; (coming to the CFL) was a great move. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

But that position switch though . . .

“I tell you, the NFL thing was behind me but if there’s something I still thought about and wondered about, it’s playing quarterback,” said Copeland, a Harriman, Tenn., native who now makes Calgary his home. “A quarterback is what I’ve been all my life and I changed to receiver just because of Peyton Manning, who was at Tennessee. He was the only reason why I made the switch.

“If he hadn’t stayed for his senior year, I probably would have played quarterback that year and then again my senior and then who knows what would have happened? But once I made the change, you’ve got to go with it. But to this day, I really think I could have played QB in this league.”

If Copeland had to make the position swap, he’s happy it was to make way for a bonafide great at the position.

“I can’t complain that I gave it up to some scrub,” he said. “At least I gave it up to a good friend in Archie — I call him Archie — and someone who is one of the best quarterbacks the NFL has ever had.”

Copeland first came to Canada in 2001 as a member of the Montreal Alouettes. After four years and a Grey Cup title with the Larks, he joined the Stamps in 2005 and wound up playing five seasons in Calgary while earning another Grey Cup ring.

He had three 1,000-yard seasons for the Stamps including 2009, which was one of three times he was honoured as a CFL all-star.

Copeland also attracted attention for some splashy touchdown celebrations with fellow receivers Nik Lewis, Ken-Yon Rambo, Markus Howell and Elijah Thurmon including the human bicycle, the relay race on the Commonwealth Stadium track and the bobsled.

The antics drew both laughs and criticism, but in the end nothing could overshadow Copeland’s talent and production and the receiver dispensed with the shenanigans later in his career.

Copeland concluded his 11-year journey as a CFL player with two seasons in Toronto before joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2012 as receivers coach. He also coached with Saskatchewan in 2015.