Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Joe Robustelli points for a first down during 2025 CFL pre-season action at Mosaic Stadium against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday, May 30, 2025. Photo by Saskatchewan Roughriders

Taylor Shire

Regina Leader-Post

Joe Robustelli was anything but average in Week 6 of the CFL season.

On Saturday against the Calgary Stampeders, the 27-year-old Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver caught 11 passes for 191 yards, which was the highest yardage total by a Rider receiver since 2019.

He also caught his first career touchdown pass in the 24-10 loss.

“It was bittersweet,” Robustelli said this week as the Riders (4-1) prepare to visit the B.C. Lions (3-3) on Saturday in Week 7. “If we would have won it, I probably would have celebrated pretty hard. But your goal of the week is to come out of the game 1-0 and we didn’t.

“But I can definitely be proud of the way that I played.”

Considering Robustelli’s journey to the CFL, putting a performance like that together in just his fourth career professional game is certainly an accomplishment worth commemorating.

After quitting football at 14 while in high school in Sarasota, Fla., the 6-foot-3, 220-pounder returned to the sport more than a decade later in 2023 as he played for the Tusculum University Pioneers, an NCAA Division II school in Tennessee.

Following a season where he averaged 23.8 yards per catch, he signed with the Roughriders in 2024 before spending the season on the practice roster.

He played one game at the end of last year (two catches, 15 yards) before getting back into the lineup this year in Week 3, where he had one catch for eight yards.

After a two-catch, 40-yard performance in Week 4, Robustelli had a career game in his latest outing, which gave him a chance to reflect on his journey over the last several years.

“It feels really good, man, I’m not gonna lie,” said Robustelli, who had a six-catch, 116-yard game in the pre-season. “I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger. I had to look at myself in the mirror and figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

“And I was always really good at football at a young age. And I took the risk and said, ‘You know what, screw it. I’m gonna take a chance on myself.’

“And to be able to come out here and get the opportunity from (general manager Jeremy O’Day and assistant general manager Kyle Carson) to bring me out here and just let me develop and come into this year and giving me the opportunity to show everybody what I got means the world.”

Ellingson comparisons

As Robustelli continues to make a name for himself in the CFL, quarterback Trevor Harris has compared him to former CFL receiver Greg Ellingson, who enjoyed a productive 10-year career in the league.

“I’ve called him ‘Gelliman’ for a long time,” Harris said of Robustelli. “I think you kind of see a little bit of that Greg Ellingson in him.”

Robustelli said the comparison was first made early in training camp in 2024 when the receiver arrived on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

“Last year coming into training camp, I remember the first day I was here, I didn’t really get to do much during practice because I was new,” said Robustelli. “There really wasn’t much for me to do, but I stayed after and was throwing with one of the other quarterbacks.

“And I remember looking over and seeing Trev just kind of standing on the sideline, looking at me with a (strange) face and I didn’t know what he was thinking at the time.

“But I guess he was watching me run routes and was just in shock about how much I reminded him of him.

“I know they were really close, and he always told me how good he was, so to hear that from him it’s the ultimate respect.”

Robustelli said after learning of Ellingson, he decided to watch some film of the two-time Grey Cup champion and four-time divisional all-star, who played with Harris in Ottawa (2016-18) and Edmonton (2019-21).

“We look like the exact same person on the field — it’s crazy,” said Robustelli.

“He runs really well,” added Harris. “He has low centre of gravity. He can get in and out of cuts really, really well. Greg was able to cut off of his inside foot, which no other receiver I played with has really done a consistent job of that.

“Joe does a great job of sticking in his routes and whatnot. And they’re both very explosive, very strong, similar build, and they’re both wearing No. 82 and they’ve both got to play with me, and so I’ve kind of just gone with that.

“Greg’s a hall of fame wide receiver here and so we’ll slow the roll … but shoot, he’s young, and he’s an up-and-comer and I’m really excited for the future for Joe.”

Florida flashback

While Robustelli admitted he didn’t know much about the CFL prior to coming to Saskatchewan in 2024, he did know one player on the Roughriders roster.

Fellow receiver Shawn Bane Jr. also hails from Sarasota and while Robustelli said he didn’t personally know Bane, his older brothers did through football.

“I think he knew of me, but we had never met,” said Robustelli, who is three years younger than Bane. “He has best friends that I became best friends with later. So we have mutual friends and stuff like that. But no, we didn’t meet until training camp last year.

“I remember I stood up and said where I was from. He kind of looked at me when he heard my last name and he was like, ‘Wait, what?’

“It’s been cool getting to know him. He’s really good guy.”

Practising patience

When Robustelli signed with the Roughriders after just one year of college football, he knew he was going to have to be patient to make his debut as he learned the nuances of pro football.

While he got onto the roster for one game at the end of last season, the 2024 campaign was about learning as much as he could in hopes of getting a chance in his second season this year.

And after starting this year on the practice roster once again, Robustelli was inserted into the lineup in Week 3 due to injuries at the receiver position and he has been enjoying it ever since.

But if that chance didn’t come this year, he was going to consider doing something else.

“This year was going to kind of be the year,” said Robustelli. “If I felt momentum and was able to play and was able to show people what I got and was able to just prove to people that I do belong out here, then I was obviously going to continue.

“But if that’s not what happened … it was kind of (like) if it doesn’t work out this year, then I was probably going to call it quits.

“And right now, I’m definitely happy with how it’s going so far.”

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