Darius Reynaud - A man amongst boys

Darius Reynaud - A man amongst boys

February 29, 2008

When a player comes to the scouting combine, they are focused on their future career. The reasons are simple, the money, the fame, the glory. While this is big money, it in many ways is an adolescent man’s dream, all the supposed important things in life.

But Reynaud is here for another reason, his child. His three year old daughter is the motivation for this man amongst boys. This is a man that has done the right things, staying by his woman when she had a child to him, taking care of the child and focusing his energies to make a difference in family’s life. He could have skipped out on the family, he could have avoided the responsibilities, he could have put himself first. Reynaud did not.

Consider the difference between this young man and many of the established stars of the NFL. Tom Brady is praised by the press, yet he abanonded his girlfriend for another woman just as she was to have his child. His ego was more important than family. Brian Urlacher did much the same thing. Boys in the character department, while men on the field.

“My little girl is a big factor in my being here” he told us. While other players were focused on themselves, their success and their being somebody, Reynaud was focused on his high school sweetheart and his young daughter. “It causes you to give it your all” he told us at the NFL combine.

Darius Reynaud is a hero even if he does not have a great NFL career. He will always be one, because he has focused first on his family rather than himself. While others might be called heroes by sports announcers on Sunday afternoons, they lack the underlying humanity and maturity that real men and heroes possess.