{"id":6366,"date":"2025-07-18T20:43:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T20:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/6366\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T20:43:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T20:43:17","slug":"roughriders-wr-joe-robustelli-enjoys-breakout-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/6366\/","title":{"rendered":"Roughriders\u2019 WR Joe Robustelli enjoys breakout performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>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<\/p>\n

Taylor Shire<\/p>\n

Regina Leader-Post<\/p>\n

Joe Robustelli was anything but average in Week 6 of the CFL season.<\/p>\n

On Saturday against the Calgary Stampeders, the 27-year-old\u00a0Saskatchewan Roughriders<\/a>\u00a0receiver caught 11 passes for 191 yards, which was the highest yardage total by a Rider receiver since 2019.<\/p>\n

He also caught his first career touchdown pass\u00a0in the 24-10 loss.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was bittersweet,\u201d Robustelli said this week as the Riders (4-1) prepare to visit the B.C. Lions (3-3) on Saturday in Week 7. \u201cIf 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\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I can definitely be proud of the way that I played.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering Robustelli\u2019s journey to the CFL, putting a performance like that together in just his fourth career professional game is certainly an accomplishment worth commemorating.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really good, man, I\u2019m not gonna lie,\u201d said Robustelli, who had a six-catch, 116-yard game\u00a0in the pre-season<\/a>. \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was always really good at football at a young age. And I took the risk and said, \u2018You know what, screw it. I\u2019m gonna take a chance on myself.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to be able to come out here and get the opportunity from (general manager Jeremy O\u2019Day 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellingson comparisons<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve called him \u2018Gelliman\u2019 for a long time,\u201d Harris said of Robustelli. \u201cI think you kind of see a little bit of that Greg Ellingson in him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robustelli said the comparison was first made early in training camp in 2024 when the receiver arrived on the University of Saskatchewan campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year coming into training camp, I remember the first day I was here, I didn\u2019t really get to do much during practice because I was new,\u201d said Robustelli. \u201cThere really wasn\u2019t much for me to do, but I stayed after and was throwing with one of the other quarterbacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I remember looking over and seeing Trev just kind of standing on the sideline, looking at me with a (strange) face and I didn\u2019t know what he was thinking at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I guess he was watching me run routes and was just in shock about how much I reminded him of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know they were really close, and he always told me how good he was, so to hear that from him it\u2019s the ultimate respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look like the exact same person on the field \u2014 it\u2019s crazy,\u201d said Robustelli.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe runs really well,\u201d added Harris. \u201cHe 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe does a great job of sticking in his routes and whatnot. And they\u2019re both very explosive, very strong, similar build, and they\u2019re both wearing No. 82 and they\u2019ve both got to play with me, and so I\u2019ve kind of just gone with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreg\u2019s a hall of fame wide receiver here and so we\u2019ll slow the roll \u2026 but shoot, he\u2019s young, and he\u2019s an up-and-comer and I\u2019m really excited for the future for Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida flashback<\/p>\n

While Robustelli admitted he didn\u2019t know much about the CFL prior to coming to Saskatchewan in 2024, he did know one player on the Roughriders roster.<\/p>\n

Fellow receiver Shawn Bane Jr. also hails from Sarasota and while Robustelli said he didn\u2019t personally know Bane, his older brothers did through football.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he knew of me, but we had never met,\u201d said Robustelli, who is three years younger than Bane. \u201cHe has best friends that I became best friends with later. So we have mutual friends and stuff like that. But no, we didn\u2019t meet until training camp last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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, \u2018Wait, what?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been cool getting to know him. He\u2019s really good guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Practising patience<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But if that chance didn\u2019t come this year, he was going to consider doing something else.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year was going to kind of be the year,\u201d said Robustelli. \u201cIf 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if that\u2019s not what happened \u2026 it was kind of (like) if it doesn\u2019t work out this year, then I was probably going to call it quits.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd right now, I\u2019m definitely happy with how it\u2019s going so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

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