In his own mind, Reggie Begelton had moved on, turned the page, severed the cord.

There would be no bailing out, no turning back, no second-guessing.

At least, so he thought.

“When I came out of college and got cut from Oakland,’’ he admits, “I was highly depressed.

“I could’ve come up here, to Canada, at that time but my mindset wasn’t right. I just thought I was done with football. I went back to college.

“But I missed the game. Missed it. And I had a lot of chatter in my ear. A lot of people, people close to me, people with my best interests at heart, saying: ‘It’s too early. It’s too early.’

“I was 22 at the time.

“They were right. Eventually, you’re going to have to work all the rest of your life. Why start too soon?

“So I talked to God, talked to family … and I’m here.

“Best decision I ever made.”

The previous evening, Begelton had registered an official CFL catch for the Calgary Stampeders at B.C. Place.

A 28-yarder.

The first.

“Of many, I hope.”

At Lamar University in Beaumont, Tex., all Reggie Begelton did was catch footballs. Scores of ’em. Scads of ’em. Over four seasons as a Cardinal, 56 starts, no one in school history had in fact ever caught more – 227 for 2,435 yards.

But an uninspiring mini-camp for the Atlanta Falcons and the chop at Oakland left the undrafted wideout discouraged and unmoored.

He’d already completed a business degree and made the decision to return to Lamar and finish another, in chemical engineering.

“I figured ‘Well, time to grow up. Time to go get a big-boy job.’ ”

But as he’d been taught not to give up on a route, giving up on the dream he’d nurtured for so long proved impossible. That chatter in his ear from friends and family and the voices of protest inside his own head eventually won the day.

“NFL,’’ he notes, “stands for Not For Long. It really does. And that applies here, too. Professional football doesn’t give anyone a really big window so you need to take advantage of the time you’re given.

“Nobody wants to be looking back at 35 years old, 40, 45 and keep beating themselves up with the question: ‘What if …?’

On June 6, in the Stamps’ pre-season opener against BC, Begelton made a stirring Canadian introduction: Five second-half receptions for 88 yards, including a 41-yarder and a 27-yard touchdown grab.

“I’m just excited to be playing football again,’’ he said that night. “To perform the way I did, was very eye-opening.

“I couldn’t be happier.”

The very next morning, he couldn’t have been more down. A knee injury had thrown another speed bump into the middle of his pro football road.

But anyone hereabouts who thought they’d seen the last of Begelton … well, a fella can’t be looking back at 35 years old, 40 or 45 and keep beating himself up with the question: ‘What if …?’

So well ahead of schedule, he returned, placed on the active roster for the Aug. 3 game at BMO Field in Toronto.

Followed by Friday night in Vancouver.

One catch. May not seem like much. But it’s a start.

The first catch of his second chance.

“I’m blessed to be here, blessed to be in this program,’’ Begelton says, with emphasis. “It’s been great. Everybody, the players, the coaches, treat you like family, as if you’d been part of this team for years.

“I told somebody today, I’m fortunate to be in an organization like this because of the way it’s making me build. This is the perfect atmosphere for me.

“After injuries, setbacks, when you’re down or disappointed – and we all get that way from time to time – it’s easy to say ‘I’m tired of putting my body through this.’

“You’re fighting all your life to make it to this point and then it’s taken away from you, again.

“You figure: ‘Why punish myself?’ ”

The familiarity of football has been all around him as this rundown Saturday morning is winding up. Mountain-sized men riding stationary bikes at field’s edge. Coaches casually going over the night before’s goings-on. Teammates chirping each other.

The someday-off-in-the-distance titan of business or chemical engineering opens his arms to indicate the expanse of McMahon Stadium.

“Why? This is why.”