Reynard trades diamond for gridiron, finds a home at Montana

NOTE: This is the fifth installment of the Grizzly senior profiles, introducing you to each of the 2016 Griz football seniors.

Fans of the Seattle Seahawks know the story of their starting quarterback and former NFL Rookie of the Year Russell Wilson well.

Wilson grew up in Virginia as a high school baseball and football star, had a cup of coffee in professional baseball as a second baseman and eventually found his way back to the gridiron at Wisconsin, where he set the FBS record for passing efficiency before being drafted by Seattle.

The Montana football program has welcomed a player to Washington-Grizzly Stadium this season with a strikingly similar story, and like Wilson, cornerback TJ Reynard has his sights set on the NFL after college football.

Coming out of high school at Greenbrier Christian Academy in Virginia Beach, Reynard was focused on baseball as a speedy center fielder who handled the lead-off batting duties for the Gators. His ability on the diamond earned him some workouts with pro scouts, getting looks from the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.

All signs pointed to Reynard being drafted to play baseball out of high school, but an injury prevented that from happening, and he turned to football to pursue big-time college athletics.

After playing a year of junior college football in Kansas, FBS programs like Colorado, Georgia Southern, Kansas and K-State showed their interest in Reynard, but Camp Randall in Madison, Wisc., was the place he chose to pursue his career.

Reynard was somewhere in Madison preparing for the 2015 Badger football season when he turned on ESPN to watch the Grizzlies defeat North Dakota State 38-35.

When an injury forced him to redshirt that season, he remembered that game in Missoula when he realized that getting back on the field in the Big Ten wasn't going to be easy. When head coach Bob Stitt and his staff came calling, Reynard was all in.

"The atmosphere was just amazing," he said of that fateful day that changed the direction of his career.

Since arriving on campus in Missoula ahead of fall camp with the Grizzlies, Reynard has felt right at home with his new team and played a major part of the early success Montana has had on the defensive side of the ball.

For the senior who played two sports, traveled from coast to coast in pursuit of a place to call home and a team to call family, Reynard is ready to make an impact in his final season for the Griz.

"You want to be welcomed by a group that feels like a family. I feel like that's huge for me and it's huge for anybody on this team because I feel like these guys are my brothers now and I can go to war with these guys any day."

To see Reynard's full senior profile, click on the photo above.

University of Montana Athletics

Reynard trades diamond for gridiron, finds a home at Montana

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