| Cornerback Tre Roberson takes a unique path to the Bears. Brad Biggs.
Roberson’s journey to Bears featured many detours along the way
When Tre Roberson arrived in Minnesota for a rookie-minicamp tryout in 2016, he had no idea what position the Vikings wanted him to play.
The former quarterback, who led Illinois State to the 2014 FCS national championship game — which the Redbirds lost 29-27 to Carson Wentz and North Dakota State— saw his name over a locker with a No. 36 jersey hanging inside.
An equipment assistant was nearby, and Roberson asked what position he would be playing.
“You’re a defensive back,” Roberson was told.
That began a crash course in playing cornerback for Roberson, who threw three touchdown passes and ran 58 yards for another score that put ISU ahead 27-23 with 1 minute, 38 seconds remaining in the title game.
Roberson earned a spot on the Vikings practice squad from that minicamp tryout, then spent the last two seasons with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders and played well enough to earn another shot at the NFL: The Bears on Wednesday signed Roberson a two-year contract.
Roberson, 6-foot, 190 pounds, drew little attention from NFL teams after a college career that began with three seasons (one medical redshirt) at Indiana, then two with the Redbirds. He became the first quarterback in Hoosiers history to start as a true freshman and set program records at ISU but wasn’t invited to the scouting combine.
Roberson had only a trip to Northwestern’s pro day and an invite to the Colts’ local day — Roberson was named Mr. Football of Indiana in 2010 after leading Lawrence Central to the 5A state championship game. His agent told him to do whatever the Vikings asked, including changing positions upon arrival.
“I wasn’t bummed at all that they didn’t want me to play quarterback,” Roberson said. “I really didn’t want to play quarterback on the next level. I just wanted to play football. I am not saying that quarterback is not a football player. I am just more comfortable playing corner. I wasn’t a natural quarterback. I worked really, really hard to be a good quarterback, but it wasn’t natural. Corner, to me, is real natural.”
Roberson got a boost of confidence in the 2016 preseason opener, breaking up a two-point-conversion attempt in the back corner of the end zone on a fade pattern with 2:45 remaining to secure a one-point win over the Bengals.
Earlier in the game, he knocked away a deep pass down the sideline on a go route.
Roberson flashed enough to stick on the practice squad, but he was starting from scratch. Backpedaling was new to him, as were transitioning out of his breaks and learning when to turn his hips. He started from ground zero, even learning what type of stance to have pre-snap.
The next summer he competed for a chance at a roster spot but was among the final cuts, calling the Vikings’ decision not to keep him on the practice squad for a second year the best thing that could have happened to him.
At the time, Roberson figured he would have a shot to make it in the CFL in the spring of 2018, but in September 2017, he and his wife, Amanda, were expecting their first child. So he went home to Indianapolis and took a job driving a box truck for Westmoreland Transportation. His first shift started at 7:30 a.m. and ended in the early afternoon. Most days he would start a second shift at 4 p.m., which meant driving to Ohio, where he would sleep for about two hours in the truck waiting for his load, then to his destination in Fort Wayne, Ind., before returning home at about 3:30 a.m. That’s when he would head to Lifetime Fitness to train with the dream of returning to the NFL.
“Then I’d try to steal a little sleep in the morning before I had to be up to do it all over again,” Roberson said. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, right? I tell people I probably slept 24 hours the whole 2017 season.”
Roberson’s grandfather Larry Highbaugh, a standout defensive back at Indiana in the late 1960s, went to Canada after a brief shot with the Cowboys. Highbaugh, inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame in 2004, had 66 interceptions in a 13-year career and was part of six Grey Cup championship teams. Highbaugh was undersized at 5-9 and never returned to the NFL.
In Calgary, Roberson won a starting job to start the 2018 season, which culminated with a Grey Cup title. He improved in his second season with seven interceptions, the second-most in the league, and 12 passes defended, making him a free-agent target for NFL teams. Roberson had five interceptions in the first three games before opponents became hesitant to throw his way. He was the boundary corner, meaning he played to the wide side of the field, which is more significant in the CFL — the field is 65-yards wide compared with the NFL’s 531⁄3 yards.
“He was pretty raw when he got here,” said Stampeders coach Dave Dickenson, who was a quarterback at Montana and won the 1995 Walter Payton Award as the nation’s best FCS player. “It was more about his makeup speed and his reading of routes. He didn’t really have great technique. He was just learning the position. He got beat but he was able to catch up. And I know it’s a little bit different speed level (in the NFL) than here, but we’ve got some pretty good athletes as well.”
The Stampeders released Roberson from his contract after the season, allowing him to explore the NFL. He tried out with 12 teams, including the Bears, and canceled six more after getting a stomach bug at the end of his planes, trains and automobiles adventure that saw him knock out 10 workouts in the first two weeks of January. He received nine contract offers and picked the Bears, who guaranteed him more than $300,000.
What the Bears will do with veteran starter Prince Amukamara, due a $9 million base salary in the final year of his contract next season, is unknown. Roberson’s addition is the first of what likely will be multiple moves at cornerback, which had little depth in 2019.
The Bears have signed a handful of players from the CFL over the last two decades. Few have had staying power, but Roberson is trying to buck that trend. He’s 27, and while that’s not ideal, he’s still young at the position, meaning his best football could be ahead of him. Scouts from teams that considered Roberson during his freeagency tour praised his competitiveness, production and ability to play off-coverage while questioning his top-end speed. He must learn to play press-man and use his hands at the line of scrimmage.
Dickenson knows firsthand the challenges of making the transition from the CFL to the NFL. After being named the most outstanding player in Canada in 2000, he kicked around the NFL with four teams over three years but never got in a game before heading back to the CFL and starring again.
“I know it’s tough,” Dickenson said. “I think at times you get labeled: You’re not coming out of the big school and you’re not a draft pick, so you not only have to be as good as that other guy, you’ve got to be a little bit better.”
Some players balk at the idea of taking a career detour to Canada, but Roberson embraced the opportunity. He believed he belonged in the NFL from the start of his season out of football, when he spent long days — and nights — driving delivery trucks.
“I was good enough to be in Minnesota,” Roberson said. “I was good enough to make that 53-man roster. I just had to go prove I was worthy of a roster spot.”
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, right?”
— Bears defensive back Tre Roberson