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<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve always taken the more difficult route to get to where I want to go in life,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI\u2019ve had to grind for everything but I\u2019d rather have it that way.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cIt teaches you more than just being a good player. It teaches you to keep going, never give up and always count on yourself when no one counts on you and just believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even Roberts\u2019 CFL tenure began inauspiciously.<\/p>\n
When Calgary first called in 2024, Roberts didn\u2019t have a passport. By the time he did, the Stampeders had already signed another player.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Calgary called again. Roberts ended up playing in the Stampeders\u2019 final six regular-season games, primarily on special teams.<\/p>\n
Roberts cracked Calgary\u2019s starting lineup last season, posting a team-high 93 tackles. He also had nine special-teams tackles, four sacks, and one forced fumble in 18 regular-season contests, proving to be a quick study of Canadian football.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust seeing all that motion was definitely something I had to get used to,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cSame with receivers running downhill fast before the snap and when you\u2019re blitzing having to be a yard off.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I feel like I adjusted pretty well. I\u2019m a football player and if you throw me out there, I will make a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts is grateful to the Stampeders for the opportunity they provided him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt taught me that I can play at the pro level,\u201d he said. \u201cI already knew that but it just confirmed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying in Calgary with the players and coaches, that was great. I\u2019m very thankful for them giving me an opportunity to go pro and put my talents on display and help them get some good wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts might be an NFL player, but now the real work begins. However, he has no plans to change his off-season training program or approach to the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m doing has worked so I\u2019m not going to change anything,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes people get into a position where they feel like they have to switch things up but they fail to realize what they\u2019ve been doing got them to where they\u2019re at.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m doing hasn\u2019t led me down the wrong path so I\u2019ll continue to get better, climb that mountain, chop wood and become the player and person I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts isn\u2019t the only former Stampeder with the Vikings. Jaylon Hutchings, who led all CFL defensive tackles with eight sacks last year, also recently signed with Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cJacob had a great 2025 season and took advantage of his opportunities to showcase his skill set,\u201d said Kenny Kim of Summit Athletes, Roberts\u2019 Florida-based representative. \u201cThrough his hard work and determination he now has a terrific opportunity with the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m confident he\u2019ll continue to grow and succeed, both as a player and person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts joined the Vikings shortly after an off-season workout with the club. Minnesota posted a 9-8 record to finish third in the NFC North and miss the NFL playoffs.<\/p>\n
Roberts is eager to contribute with the Vikings, either on defence or special teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a versatile linebacker and I can fit into a lot of defences and I can definitely fit in anywhere on special teams,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously the (NFL) game might be a little faster \u2026 but I\u2019m just a player who can do a lot so I don\u2019t really look at it too much as what I need to do to adjust to in the NFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m ready to get to work wherever they need me. Wherever they put me, I\u2019m going to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
After playing two seasons in the CFL, Roberts sees no issues getting re-acclimated to American football.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball comes down to running, catching, blocking and tackling and being gap sound,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s not much of a difference when you really think about the techniques of football, it\u2019s just the job has to get done and I\u2019m going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report from The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019ve always taken the more difficult route to get to where I want to go in life,\u201d Roberts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[879,49,48,521,522,2467,520,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82],"class_list":["post-420562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-breaking-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-central-vancouver-island","tag-cfl","tag-nanaimo","tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","tag-nanaimo-news","tag-nanaimo-news-now","tag-nanaimonewsnow","tag-news","tag-oceanside","tag-parksville","tag-qualicum","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}