It’s no coincidence that Keenan Reynolds was able to set records for rushing touchdowns (88) and rushing yards (4,559) by a quarterback in the NCAA top division as an athlete for the United States Naval Academy.
The 2015 American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, who became one of four people to ever have his jersey retired by the contenders, was already in the Athlete League. However, since joining the National Football League (NFL), Reynolds has been forced to become a wide receiver, a position he had never held before, which saw him spend his first two professional seasons on practice squads without ever making a regular season appearance.
It might also be worth pointing out that Reynolds has had to juggle two careers, one as an American football player and the other as a Navy reserve officer. This means that while his teammates are actively training in the off-season, he has had to report for naval duties.
Keenan Reynolds Bio
Keenan Reynolds was born to Jacqueline and Donald Reynolds on December 13, 1994 in Antioch, a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. Reynolds’ father, a former college football player, introduced his son to the sport when he was five years old. From this age, Reynolds started playing the sport regularly and was always considered the best player among his peers.
For his high school education and career, the young athlete was enrolled at Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, another suburb of Nashville, where he was named a member of the football team from the first day he took office until upon graduating in 2012. Reynolds also won three other varsity letters as he competed and excelled. four different sports activities while being a member of the National Honor Society.
Having led his team to a consecutive district, Keenan Reynolds received offers from several college programs, including Navy and Air Force academies. He then chose to join the Navy because he was impressed with his football record and his campus. At the start of his freshman year with the Midshipmen, Reynolds was the team’s fourth quarterback. However, in Game 4 of the season, after proving himself by guiding his team to a victory over the Air Force after being recalled with an injury to the starting quarterback, Reynolds was named the starter. This makes him the third freshman in Navy history to become a starter.
In 2013, his second college season, Reynolds had a season-high 29 touchdowns. He also set the record for most touchdowns (7) in a quarterback game in NCAA history. In 2015, Reynolds broke the record for most career touchdowns in Football Bowl Subdivision history. Later in the season, he broke the same NCAA Division 1 record (85) before setting a new one at 88. His performances and records earned him a bid for that year’s Heisman Trophy. He finished fifth on the voting list and also received the Pat Tillman Award.
American Football Receiver Facts
NFL Career
Keenan Reynold was not invited to the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine after graduating from college because it was unclear if he was going to pursue a career as a football player due to his Navy service obligations. Graduates of service academies must be active duty officers for approximately five years before pursuing other interests.
However, due to a short-term waiver available through the Department of Defense during the administration of Barack Obama, where elite athletes graduating from a service academy are given the option to defer their physical activity time, Reynolds could be selected in the sixth round with the 182nd pick of the 2016 NFL Draft season by the Baltimore Ravens.
The record-breaking college quarterback joined the Ravens as a wide receiver because his style of play as a three-option quarterback was unused in the NFL. This meant he had to learn how to play at his new found position, and due to the steep learning curve he went through, he was confined to the team’s practice squad for the 2016 season.
The Baltimore Ravens finally released him on September 1, 2017, allowing him to sign for the Washington Redskins in November 2017. He was again placed on his new team’s practice squad which eventually released without him playing a single game. Keenan Reynolds is currently in the process of signing with the Seattle Seahawks where he hopes to change his fortunes to finally play a game in the NFL.
Marine Career
Keenan Reynolds currently holds the rank of Junior Lieutenant in the United States Navy. He is a crypto warfare officer assigned to Crypto Warfare Group Six at Fort Meade, Maryland, while also attached to a reserve center in Nashville.
During the 2018 offseason, Reynolds was in Pensacola, Fla., where he was taking an eight-week Basic Information Warfare Basics (IWBC) course at the Center for Information Dominance in Corry Station.