MOULTRIE – For National Football League wide receiver Seth Roberts, staying down is all about the head, the heart and the attitude when looking to achieve. When the odds were high that an undrafted NCAA Division II player would make a roster in the big leagues – and still be there three years later – Roberts maintained that mindset. The result now is he’s a major part of an explosive offense and team that has Super Bowl on its mind for the 2017 season.

With just under four weeks to go before training camp begins for the Oakland Raiders, Moultrie native Seth Roberts made one of his frequent visits to his home city this weekend for Community Day 2017 at the Northwest Recreation Complex. On Saturday, Roberts joined family in giving out food and t-shirts, signing autographs and taking pictures for the local youth. With a basketball tournament going on inside the Shaw Gymnasium, Roberts spoke to the players, spectators and everyone else involved using that same theme, staying down.

“I have a lot of family here, a lot of relatives,” said the son of Ronnie and Jill Roberts and the grandson of Laura Roberts, all of whom call Moultrie home. “This is where we come back to have big gatherings, Sunday dinners. All of my immediate family lives in Moultrie. A lot of people don’t know that. I come back every offseason to see my relatives.

“Moultrie is in me and will always be in me. (Mom and Dad) were born and raised here. It’s in us.”

Dad Ronnie Roberts spoke about keeping Seth on “tunnel vision,” staying in his son’s ear, encouraging and making sure he was doing the right thing.

“I tell him all the time: Put God first,” he said.

Roberts played high school football at Maclay Prep in Tallahassee, junior college football in Mississippi and finished up at West Alabama in the Gulf South Conference. Nobody drafted him in 2014, but like many others he signed a free agent deal with the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders retained him for the 2015 season, and he’s been a part of the roster ever since. Roberts has 10 touchdown catches the last two years, but beyond football he makes an impact in the Bay Area visiting children’s hospitals and schools.

“Stay down,” he said. “Have a level head. Just because someone tells you ‘You can’t do it’ doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Chase your dreams, keep your head down and keep your mind on what you want to do.”

That strong mindset is what carried Roberts to where he is now. He said he never went around boasting that he was going to make the NFL, but the desire was in him

“You have to be dedicated,” he said. “When you get there, you really don’t know what’s going on. You have to watch the guy in front of you … observe. That’s what I did. I kept grinding for it. I never told anybody (my goal); that’s just the type of person I am. Just kept pushing.

“To be in the NFL is a blessing. It’s a job. It’s an opportunity. The guys in front of me, they left a legacy. So I am trying to leave a legacy, to do the best I can.”

And to Roberts, being a “professional” football player means more than being paid to play.

“There’s a lot that goes on with being a professional,” he said. “Professional is a strong word. You have to grasp that when you get to where I am. You have to make it happen. They can’t tell you to go lift weights. You are a professional; that’s your job.”

Giving back, remembering where you came from, would have to be something else no one can tell you to do in the NFL. Roberts wants to help others, be it in Moultrie or in Oakland and other parts of California because the people in those places back him up in becoming the best he can be.

Roberts is also in the profession that makes news for injury issues, especially concussions. It’s not something, however, that Roberts spends a lot of time concerned over.

“You can’t worry about that,” he said. “Everything’s been pretty successful so far.”

And successful is what the Raiders were in 2016 after languishing at the bottom of the NFL for more than a decade. They went 12-4, tied with Kansas City for the best record in the AFC West Division. But after a broken fibula suffered by quarterback Derek Carr in the final regular season game, Oakland lost to Houston in the Wild Card Playoffs. Carr now has a new contract, Roberts plays alongside former Alabama receiver Amari Cooper, and the offense added running back Marshawn Lynch out of retirement.

“To the top,” said Roberts about where he sees the Raiders heading. “We’re going to be the best we can be. Carr is an awesome guy. He’s going to make it happen. ‘Beast Mode,’ he makes it happen.”

Will a bunch of youngsters say they got to meet a future Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion? It would be bigger to the Roberts family if they take these lessons with them along with the signatures and snapshots.

“It was a good turnout,” said Ronnie Roberts. “We barbecued chicken, gave away ice cream, water, all that stuff. Everybody enjoyed it.

“The kids were very enthused to see (Seth).”