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WATCH ABOVE: The Calgary Stampeders are putting rookies to the test. As Quinn Phillips reports, Dexter Janke will be among the first-year players vying for some attention.

EDMONTON – Edmonton’s Dexter Janke has been playing football since he was seven-years-old. His dedication to the sport is now paying off, as the 22-year-old is in Calgary for his first CFL training camp.

“As everyone’s been saying to me hard work pays,” said Janke, who was selected in the fifth round by the Stampeders. “I’ve definitely worked for this and it feels that much better that it hasn’t been given to me.”

The free safety and returner is referring to a tumultuous few years. In Grade 11 he tore the ACL in his knee. He did it again in Grade 12, and once again in his third-year at the University of Saskatchewan.

“I had a decision to make; I could sit there and wallow and be freaked out about it, or I could do what I love and put it behind me, so that’s what I decided to do.”

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He spent four years in Saskatoon with the Huskies, but two years were as a red shirt because of his injury. Last season he played for the Canadian Junior Football League’s Okanagan Sun.

Janke was the only Edmonton-born player selected from the CFL’s regional combine to go to the main combine in Toronto.

“I was happy to go against the higher competition,” said Janke.

“Those are the best players in the country and I definitely felt I held my own and other teams did as well.” Tweet This

Janke now needs to make an impression at rookie camp. He feels set.

“I’ve talked with a couple of guys that are in the league now and the biggest thing they’ve really emphasized is just be in shape, be in shape, be in shape,” said Janke. “I was in Kelowna training with the Okanagan Suns… I was there with my head coach and strength coach Shane Beatty.

“He was on me, sometimes we were going seven times a week.”

In meetings with CFL teams leading up to the draft, the message was clear: Canadian born athletes need to be able to produce on special teams.

“I just have to show that I am athletic, so that I can run down on specials, show that I can produce on specials. That’s the biggest thing.”

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Janke and fellow first-year hopefuls take the field for rookie camp on Thursday morning at McMahon Stadium.

Follow @QJPhillips