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Senior Spotlight: Center Bobby Reynolds

Senior Spotlight: Center Bobby Reynolds

Football Oct 05
By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
If college football hadn't worked out for ULM center Bobby Reynolds, he had a back-up plan.

A multi-sport athlete at Keller (Texas) High School, the fifth-year senior believes he could have forged a college career as a rugby player.

"I didn't ever count it out as for college," Reynolds said. "I started my freshman year of high school because I had some friends of mine who were playing in a club league. I played a few games and really started understanding it and kind of fell in love with it because everyone gets to run with the ball, which is cool."

Odds are slim that Reynolds will ever have his number called as a ball carrier in ULM's offense. But 6-foot-2, 286-pounder sounds like he could handle the chore if given the chance.

"As somebody who has always played on the line, you get to see how to break some tackles and get in the open field and make some people miss, which is definitely fun for me," Reynolds said  "It takes me out of my normal background of just football and blocking people. Rugby is something I excel in. We had a varsity team and I made it my freshman year. It was a lot of fun. If it came down to it and I didn't have a football opportunity, I definitely would have played rugby in college."

ULM was fortunate to sign Reynolds in 2015 and keep him in a football uniform. He made his 26th consecutive start against South Alabama and was a third-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection as a junior when he led the ULM offensive line in snaps played (827) and knockdowns (39). Reynolds surrendered only a half sack in nearly 400 passing plays, he produced the highest grade among offensive linemen in five games and scored 90 percent or higher in five games.

Reynolds was one of six Sun Belt Conference centers on the Rimington Trophy Award watch list in the preseason. The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football

"As an offensive lineman, it's not the most glamourous position in the world," Reynolds said. "But as a group, we make it fun. We have competitions in the offensive line room and it pushes us to be better. Not just for each other but for the whole team. I think it's really elevated us as a group to always be striving to be the best offensive line. Not just in the conference but the whole country."

Reynolds has spent his entire career delivering snaps to ULM's record-breaking quarterback Caleb Evans, who also has 26 consecutive starts.

"It's not just all the games but all the practices too," Reynolds said. "It's usually just me and him and nobody else. We've definitely built a good relationship with each other and I think that helps us as a group. He can talk to me as a friend and not just a teammate about what we need to do.

"Caleb is a great leader for us and he helps me be a leader too."

Said Evans: "We have a real special relationship. We joke around out there. We've been through this for so long together, four or five years together. It's fun having a guy that's reliable out there that you can trust. You have his back and he has your back."     

Enhancing Reynolds's college experience, he's been able to share it with his 2-year-old son Jameson.

"He's everything to me," Reynolds said. "Everything I do, I do it for him. We did the Hawk Walk (before the South Alabama game) and I put him on my shoulders so he could be part of it with us." 
 
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