Tevaughn Campbell returns from NFL, hoping to help lead the Riders

After spending the last six years in the NFL, defensive back Tevaughn Campbell is back and fighting for a job in the CFL.

The former University of Regina Rams football product spent from 2015-18 playing with the Calgary Stampeders, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes, before heading down south and chasing his NFL dreams.

Moments after punches were thrown at the Riders camp, players scrambled to help break it up. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)

Campbell joined the NFL in 2019 and spent time with the New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars before signing with the Green and White this off-season.

Campbell was released by the Jaguars on Aug. 25, 2024 — making it a long wait for him to get back onto the football field.

Campbell said he’s been itching to get onto the field again.

“It’s been a while — the end of August was our last game,” Campbell said. “I just been sitting at home, watching film, looking at the little things and just being like, ‘Man, I could go out there correct this and correct that.’ It’s good to be back.”

Campbell’s career in the NFL has taken him everywhere from climbing the ranks of the practice roster, all the way to becoming a regular defender.

He wants to take the lessons he learned in the United States and use them back in Riderville.

“I learned a lot from a lot of people — being around a lot of vets — a lot of proficient people in the game that have a lot of information to give me — it was great to just soak in that knowledge and I could bring it here,” Campbell explained.

“And I’m still not done learning. I’m learning from the guys here, too. Everybody has something to teach me, so I’m like a sponge. I’m just trying to soak it all in.”

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He feels the lessons he learned down south have helped him a lot as a football player on the field.

“Being calm. I think it’s not so much they tell me to be calm, but just watching their play style and watching how they play – they play very fluent,” Campbell said.

“When you see a lot of the good vets in the league, they are very calm when they’re playing. That’s kind of something that I learned to try to implement in my game. I’m kind of a known as a fast guy — so I’m kind of bursty and I like to move fast a lot, but the coach would be like, ‘Just slow down.’”

After three days of camp, Campbell admits the transition from the NFL back to the CFL has been an adjustment, but he said he’s finding his footing again.

“I had to learn the little things again, just like the little rules that I probably forgot within that six-year period. At least they changed the hashes, put them closer together,” Campbell laughed.

Campbell said the changing of the hashmarks back in 2022 actually helps better suit his game.

“Especially when you’re playing field, half field, corner, man, it’s just like you were kind of getting no action over there in the CFL half the time,” Campbell added.

“The hashes are coming in now, so the fields and boundary is kind of like a five to seven yard difference now. You get more action, you’re seeing the ball more to your side and you get to be more in the game.”

News and notes from Day 3 of Rider camp

Day 3 of Rider training camp didn’t disappoint with the pads being strapped on for the first time.

The wind did play a factor when it came to throwing the football, as some of the passes quarterbacks threw were either overthrown or underthrown after being caught up in the gusty wind on Tuesday.

Trevor Harris threw a ball deep towards the end zone, but had it intercepted by defensive back Kerfalla Exumé, who made a diving play to get the football into his hands.

Marcus Sayles ran a great route on receiver Dohnte Meyers to intercept the football in a similar drill. Myers wouldn’t let the play bother him and had a nice catch for himself on his next opportunity in the drill.

There were a couple of punches thrown on Wednesday as defensive lineman Justin Jefferson and offensive lineman Julius Buelow were both sent off after a dust-up. It happened after the play of a drill at the centre field with the quarterbacks in the middle of it. Nobody was hurt.

Riders head coach Corey Mace said there’s no reason for punches to be thrown.

“We want to make these guys understand the reality,” Mace said. “A little scrum here and there is okay, but if we get punches thrown, you’re out of practice. So those guys are out of practice.”

Outside of the dust-up at practice, Mace was very impressed with what he saw on the field.

“We talk about competing in everything we do, whether it’s practice, in the meeting rooms or playing cards, we want to compete,” Mace added. “That was excellent to see today. I thought it was blow for blow. We saw some some big scores on offence, we saw some pick sixes on defence and everybody just responded to the adversity exactly how you want. They never quit.”

The first round of cuts from Rider camp by midnight tonight as the roster is trimmed from 85 to 75.

Day four of the Rider training camp is set to resume at 8:30 a.m. at Griffiths Stadium.