Hands up if you’re heard this one before …
Reggie Begelton for CFL all-star?
Yes … it’s happened before. Twice, in fact for the talented receiver.
And now for a third time — and marking the only true shining moment for the Calgary Stampeders in 2024 — it’s happening again.
Veteran hands-man Begelton has been voted to the 2024 all-Canadian Football League team, making him the only Stampeders player to receive the honour on the ugly 5-12-1 campaign.
“I come in striving to be consistent,” said Begelton, a 31-year-old native of Beaumont, Texas. “Being consistent will take you to a lot of places. And that’s all I can really do is focus on myself.
“When it comes to, personally, how I play, I have a standard for myself, and I refuse to allow myself to get below that standard,” continued Begelton. “I come here every day to be a professional football player, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
He was that for sure in his seventh CFL season — his seventh, as well, with the Red and White.
Begelton started all 18 games at slotback this season and finished tied for second in the league with 92 receptions and fifth in receiving yards with 1,150. He ranked second in the CFL with 34 catches for second-down conversions. Begelton had four touchdown catches, as well as a two-point conversion reception, and cracked the 100-yard mark in receiving yards on three occasions.
The Lamar University alum surpassed a pair of career milestones — 5,000 receiving yards and 400 catches — during the 2024 campaign and was voted by teammates as the 2024 winner of the Presidents’ Ring award for demonstrating excellence on and off the field.
“He’s probably one of our hardest workers and takes care of his body as good as anybody,” said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson, of Begelton. “Very competitive, prideful, a leader …”
Begelton was previously honoured as a league all-star in 2019 and 2023.
The all-CFL team is determined by members of the Football Reporters of Canada, CFL head coaches and participants in the all-CFL fan vote.
“It’d be nice to have a bunch of Reggies,” continued Dickenson. “They don’t make ’em like that. He’s durable — he’s got speed and great hands and will block. So … yeah … he’s always doing a lot of good things.”
After signing Begelton to a two-year contract in January, Dickenson is happy to have Begelton again on his side heading into what’s hoped will be a rebound season for the Stampeders in 2025.
And true to his word, Begelton intends to bring his usual high level of professionalism — and energy — to the fold, even after suffering alongside teammates in what was the team’s worst campaign during his tenure here.
“To me, I look at this as exciting,” said Begelton, of what lies ahead for the Stampeders. “You don’t know what you’re going to come to next year — it’s new beginnings. It’s something to play for. If you’ve been in the game for a while now, it gives you something to look forward to.
“So I’m going into off-season and it’s making me work harder, because I don’t know what’s going to be here. So it makes me want to push that agenda, as well, and make sure I’m ready, just case somebody tried to come and beat me out.”
And the veteran receiver believes the team will be ready, to boot.
“Absolutely … there’s no doubt in my mind,” added Begelton, when asked if the Stamps can return to playoff form after missing the CFL post-season for the first time in two decades. “There’s just a few key things, and one of those things is details. Details will get you those close games — they will get you on the other side. I mean … even in the winning years, we had close games. I mean … we blew people out, too, but we also had close games. And the reason why we’ve won those close games is through details.”