In Week 3 of the 2012 season, running back/wide receiver Darius Reynaud fielded a kick like he had done many times before. But this time he was going to throw it.
Reynaud launched the ball from one sideline over to the other to cornerback Tommie Campbell who took it to the house untouched.
“That whole week we practiced that to the tee until we got it perfect,” Reynaud said. “The guy I was throwing the ball to [Campbell] told me ‘D-Rey, Imma tell you right now I cannot catch do not throw it over my head, do not throw it under my knees, put it right in my numbers.”
The journey to the infamous lateral pass began in Luling, Louisiana. Reynaud didn’t enjoy the game at first.
“I wasn’t really a football fan growing up,” Reynaud said. “I was kind of forced into playing because where I’m from, there was a big field with all the kids in the neighborhood would go out and play football and I just got kind of thrown out there.”
Immediately, Reynaud’s marquee speed was on full display.
“I was one of the fastest kids out there,” Reynaud said. “When I would get the ball, I’m running for my life and just took a liking to it, to the kids.”
Getting on the field was a challenge because his coach kept him off the gridiron. Reynaud wasn’t opposed to this, but his father Michael was not having any of it.
“I never used to play, the coach never used to put me in the game and I was happy with that,” Reynaud said. “Until one day, my Dad came out there and jumped the fence and yelled at the coach ‘Why isn’t my kid out there playin?’”
The following week, Reynaud was not confined to the sideline anymore.
“The next game, I remember it like it was yesterday,” Reynaud said. “The coach said ‘Reynaud you’re in the game’ It made my heart drop because I didn’t want to go into the game, but I remember I was given a toss and I ran it 65 yards for the touchdown.”
Learning the game, Reynaud looked up to the greats Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith.
He kept the streaky speed going all the way through high school. In his senior season at Hahnville High School, he had nine games with 100-yards or more on the ground. With 1,889 yards total rushing yards, Reynaud earned First-team All-State, All-District, All-6-5A and All-River Parish honors.
Even with all of the accolades, Reynaud could only think of one great memory that stood above the rest.
“The best moment for me was when we won the State Championship, in fact it was against Jacob Hester who went to LSU,” Reynaud said. “It was Reynaud vs. Hester and that turned out pretty good winning the State Championship and scoring the game-winner to win the game.”
At the same time, Reynaud dabbled at wide receiver, his 45-inch vertical jump made him a very popular target for quarterbacks.
“It was just natural for me to catch a football,” Reynaud said. “So when they told me ‘the quickest way to get on the field was receiver,’ I just went out there and I was pretty good at it and every time we were in a bind, coaches would say ‘just throw it up to Reynaud he’s gonna go up and get it.’”
Reynaud took his talents to West Virginia, a school that has produced talented skill players time and again. The Louisiana native, had little to no knowledge of his future college alma mater.
“When I started getting recruited by West Virginia, there was a guy on my team [at first] getting recruited by them and came out to see him and I just happened to steal the show,” Reynaud said. “I thought West Virginia was a military school no-lie, I thought it was like an Army school I had never heard of it.”
His first year however, Reynaud was forced into a redshirt season as he was academically ineligible. The now freshman was not allowed to lift or practice with the team.
“My senior year of high school I thought I had everything I needed to qualify and be eligible to play,” Reynaud said. “Once I graduated I got a call saying I was half a point shy from being eligible for a full scholarship.”
If Reynaud wanted the scholarship he had to earn it.
“I had to pay for school my freshman year, I had to show that I could be capable of having the school paying for my scholarships,” Reynaud said. “Once I got there I was on the honor roll and I stayed eligible all my years there.”
But during his freshman year, Reynaud had second thoughts about college and was thinking of walking away. His parents persuaded him to continue reminding him of his true potential.
“I talk to my Mom about it all the time, while [I was] a freshman, I wanted to quit and go back home and work with my Dad,” Reynaud said. “My Mom and Dad said ‘ you crazy boy with all the talent you have you are [so] close to living your dream, you are three years out from living out your dream’ That’s when it hit me that I was three years away from playing in the NFL.”
Reynaud decided to stay in school and the rest was history. In his last year at West Virginia, Reynaud capped off an unlikely football journey with a Fiesta Bowl to remember. He recorded five receptions for 42 yards and two scores which included a 30 yard touchdown run.
Reynaud got himself into the record books with receiving yards and receiving touchdowns and deflected all of the success to his quarterback Pat White.
“I couldn’t have done it without Pat,” Reynaud said. “It’s crazy because I was just going to college to get my degree and play the game that I love, when I look back at it, I think ‘I accomplished a lot because I wasn’t supposed to be there’ So it’s a blessing.”
Reynaud deliberated going back to school for a senior season, but ultimately chose to declare for the NFL Draft. Rounds and picks went by and the now West Virginia alum was left on the board.
This surprised him.
“I had great combine and pro day numbers so when I was talking to NFL coaches and scouts, everything worked out there so I was just waiting on them,” Reynaud said. “When I didn’t hear my name called, I just took off and left the house and went to my auntie’s and that’s when the [Houston Texans] called and then Minnesota called and offered a little bit more, so I looked at the depth chart and I knew of Adrian Peterson and Bobby Wade and I was like ‘I’m going to Minnesota.’”
Reynaud worked closely with Peterson and quickly saw why the 2012 NFL MVP was so successful.
“He was one of the first to come in and the last to leave,” Reynaud said about Peterson. “He stayed a couple minutes after every practice doing extra drills, I worked with him everyday and he welcomed me to his home, watching film over his house, that was a bond that can’t be broken I still talked with him to this day every chance I get.”
Reynaud found a second home in Tennessee. He took the opportunity and literally ran with it.
In 2012, he had the longest kickoff return in franchise history at 105 yards.
A man who’s thought was he was never supposed to be there, bookended the season after his throw to Campbell, returned two touchdowns in one game becoming the 16th to ever do it in NFL history.
But when it comes to legacy, Reynaud wants to be remembered for the way he prepared and played.
“Kids when I get to talk to them, ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,’” Reynaud said. “To go from being one of those undrafted guys to make it to play seven years, we all have a point to prove because we fought for a position everyday.”
Reynaud has a simple message to kids to not take the time they play football for granted.
“I tell kids that want to make it to the league that ‘NFL stands for not for long,’” Reynaud said. “As soon as week one hits, those scouts are looking for next year’s draft pick to replace you, everybody has talent, it’s what you do with that talent.”
