Linebacker Keith Reineke is a long way from home.

He grew up in Waco, Texas, and has never lived outside of the state. He kept close to home by going to the University of Mary Hardin–Baylor in Belton, Texas.

Now, he’s ventured all the way north to Calgary to try and earn a job with the Red and White.

Thankfully, he has a familiar face here to help with the transition.

“Blake Jackson, who is a receiver here, went to the same school as me, so we actually played together,” said the 24-year-old Reineke. “It’s very nice having someone you know around here, especially when you’re so far away from home.”

The long-haired backer took to the field at McMahon Stadium for the first time Thursday as the Stampeders opened rookie camp.

Mother Nature did its best to provide Reineke and all the other newcomers a nice welcome.

“Today would be a perfect day,” he joked. “Rainy, 40 degrees (fahrenheit) almost. It’s a perfect temperature for football.”

“The first day was great. The elevation got to me a little bit, I’m not used to that quite yet, so I’m hoping that my body can get used to that pretty fast.”

Reineke first popped on to the Stamps radar when he attended one of the team’s open try-outs in Dallas.

What they found was an athletic player who could help make an impact from sideline to sideline.

“I’m a very energetic, hustler type of guy,” Reineke said. “I’m going to fly around and get to the ball. If it’s on one side of the field, I’m going to do my best to go over there and pursue the ball. I’m going to make sure everyone is on the same page, so we don’t have busts in the coverage or busts up front and that type of stuff.”

Having made an impression, Calgary invited him to the final mini-camp in Florida, but first he was off to participate in The Spring League. The developmental league run by professional football talent was a chance for Reineke to show off his abilities against other talented football players, including former NFLers such as Johnny Manziel, one of his teammates on Team South.

Following his two-game stint with The Spring League, Reineke joined the Stamps down south to work with linebacker coach Brent Monson, where he could learn the Calgary defence from his new positional coach.

“That IMG camp really helped me out because I got to meet coach Monson and we did our scheme, our technique, and our plays and it has carried over here,” said Reineke. “When I came here, I basically already knew half of the coverages that we had. It was very helpful in that aspect.”

However, seeing all facets of the Canadian game together at camp Thursday was still a bit of an eye-opener.

“I would say the running was a bit different,” said Reineke. “I was at the Florida camp at IMG and being able to go there and learn the concepts, seeing five guys coming at you as receivers, I got used to that. Now here, incorporating the run with the pass game, I’ve got to get more of a feel for that.”

“Meeting Alex [Singleton] was very helpful, I mean all the guys were helpful. They embraced us and when we were doing some pass drills, they were giving us tips and tricks that will help us out in the long run.”