Reunited and it feels so good.

Following a season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on their practice roster, defensive back Mark Roberts had just one destination on his mind when the calendar flipped to 2018: the Stampeders rookie training camp, which opened at McMahon Stadium on Thursday.

It was an easy choice as former college teammate and long-time friend Reggie Begelton suited up for the Red and White last year and the two couldn’t wait to reunite on the field.

“The anticipation coming in was high,” Roberts said. “I didn’t sleep for two days just because I was so excited to get here and get back to the football

“It’s so surreal to possibly play together again. We’re back together and I told him that we’re reunited like old times and to go out there and win it.”

The duo spent their college days at Lamar University, and proved to be a deadly one-two punch at receiver. Roberts had 79 receptions for 1,795 yards and had a school-record 21 touchdowns in 24 games during his time at Lamar and earned first-team all-Southland Conference honours in 2014 after hauling in 46 passes for 1,157 yards and 13 majors.

With his eye-opening numbers at receiver, some may wonder why the 26-year-old decided to switch things up and become a defensive back instead.

So what sparked the position change after his college days were over?

“Growing up I always said that I was a better defensive back than I was a receiver,” Roberts said. “I was an All-American receiver back in college so that tells you how high I think of my game on defence. It gives me options being versatile playing on both sides of the ball. If they like me at DB, that’s what I’ll do. If they like me at receiver, I’ll play receiver.

“I’m ready to take on any role to help the team.”

With this being his first trip to Calgary, Roberts is taking everything in, and admitted that he heard stories from Begeltion about the unpredictable weather – it rained hard on Day 1 – but overall he’s just appreciative to be a part of camp.

“It’s something we all pray on and all wish we get the opportunity to come out and go to work,” he said. “There’s no pressure, it’s more motivation to be competing with everyone here. You get out on the field and do what you’ve been doing for your whole life. You have to rise to the occasion and when you see an opportunity you have to seize it.”

For Roberts and the other rookies fighting to earn a spot on the roster, it’s a learning process and it’s all about soaking up as much knowledge from the coaches and veterans as possible.

“We’re all here to learn, first and foremost,” he said. “If you make the team or don’t make it, it’s all a learning experience. We’ve got great coaches helping us go through the different plays making sure we’re following along and it then falls onto us to be on top of studying the plays during our down time.”