Begelton Takes Long Road to Green Bay
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Being in Green Bay and competing for a job at receiver with the Packers is about a million miles away from Reggie Begelton’s thinking coming out of high school.
Well, to be precise, it’s 2,769 miles.
The native of Beaumont, Texas – 1,302 miles from Green Bay – went to his hometown college, Lamar, to get a degree in chemical engineering. Playing professionally wasn’t even a consideration.
“Honestly, no,” Begelton said when asked after Saturday’s practice if he could have dreamed of this opportunity. “I thought it would be cool if I got the opportunity but, yeah, coming out of high school, because I didn’t get any offers, I accepted that I was going to be a regular person. The area that I live in has a lot of chemical plants, so I wanted to get a good job at the chemical plant, and that was really my mind-set.”
Begelton caught 52 passes for 866 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior at West Brook High School. He walked on at Lamar, then proceeded to rewrite the record book. Begelton set school records for receptions in a game, season and career; his 227 receptions ranking second in Southland Conference history.
But, as was the case going from high school to college, there wasn’t much interest going from Lamar to the NFL.
“I had the opportunity to attend the three-day minicamp for Atlanta and Oakland,” Begelton recalled. “I was not signed prior to those camps and I didn’t get signed at the end of those camps.”
So, it was off to Canada. Begelton signed with Calgary – 1,467 miles from Green Bay – and showed talent and perseverance. At Lamar, he was a nonscholarship player for two years and would have quit had he not received a partial scholarship. With Calgary, his first two seasons ended with injuries. Finally, he caught 102 passes for 1,444 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
That got him a shot with the Packers. With that, the 26-year-old finally had his foot in the NFL door.
“It’s truly a blessing for me,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity and I’m just having fun with it. No matter what happens at the end of the day, I can always say I had the opportunity and that’s all I could ever ask for.”
Begelton dominated in Calgary against lesser competition and the larger Canadian fields. With the pandemic eliminating offseason workouts, Begelton’s transition to the NFL game was put on hold.
“It’s mostly the coverage. I’ll break and a guy is a lot closer than I assumed that he would,” Begelton said. “But I’ve been playing American ball all my life. I was in Canada the last three years. However, in the offseason, I was still playing American ball. You really can’t practice the Canadian ball. So, I’m still used to how the game is played down here, even though I was up north for a couple of years. It’s embedded.
“Don’t forget, I’m from Texas, so that’s like the football capital of the world. It’s a religion. I’ve been playing since I was a kid. The adjustment is not drastic. I just need to be comfortable with the offense I’m in, soak in all the details and go out there and play fast. Once I’m able to play fast, I can be really dangerous. I truly believe that. Anybody, honestly, when you can go out there and not think and just play football, that’s the best feeling in the world.”
Begelton’s had his moments through the first 11 practices of training camp. While he hasn’t looked out of place, he also hasn’t separated himself at receiver. Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and returner Tyler Ervin likely have four spots at receiver sewn up, and Equanimeous St. Brown, Jake Kumerow and even waiver-wire addition Malik Turner have experience on their side.
“It’s just about building his confidence that he can go against a No. 1 corner like Ja [Jaire Alexander] or Kevin King and just trust himself to win his one-on-ones with the details that we coach and not try to go out and do something that we don’t really coach to do and try to do too much,” receivers coach Jason Vrable said earlier in the week. “Just do what you’ve done your whole life at a fast level. Just go out there and trust yourself and not overthink things. And I think that’ll come with reps and playing throughout the training camp.”
That time is running out, though, with only one week of training camp left before roster cuts on Sept. 5. That’s why Sunday’s practice at Lambeau Field is so important. It might be his last really good opportunity to make an impression on general manager Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur.
“You can’t view it that way or you will put that pressure on yourself,” Begelton said. “Go out there, it’s football. At the end of the day, it’s football. You’re here to play football. Just go have fun. I want to wake up in the morning and be like ‘You know what? It’s a good day to play football.’ I’m going to go out there and give it my best.”
