Reginald Alonzo Givens (born October 3, 1971) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

in both the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

and

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Baltimore Stallions The Baltimore Stallions (known officially as the "Baltimore Football Club" and previously as the "Baltimore CFL Colts" in its inaugural season) were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, which played ...

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

Early years

Givens attended Sussex Central High School, where he was an All-American and Virginia's high school defensive player of the year in 1988, after registering over 100 tackles. He also was a standout in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and track. He accepted a scholarship from

and became a starter at

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

as a true freshman for the last 5 games of the season, which was a difficult achievement in a

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

coached team. What he lacked in size, he compensated with his speed and instincts, finishing with 38 tackles (3 for loss), 2 sacks, 2 passes defensed and 2 fumble recoveries. As a sophomore, he started nine games at sam linebacker, recording 47 tackles (sixth on the team), 3 tackles for loss, 5 passes defensed, 2 sacks and one interception. As a junior, he started every game for a team that finished ranked third in the nation, posting 41 tackles (5 for loss), 2 sacks and 2 interceptions. As a senior co-captain he posted 59 tackles (second on the team), 7 tackles for loss, 7 passes defensed, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. His best moment came when he was named the defensive MVP of the 1992 Fiesta Bowl in a 47-17 win against the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, after causing two crucial turnovers, including a fumble return for a 23-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

. After his career was over, Paterno told NFL scouts that Givens "was my best linebacker here since

Jack Ham Jack Raphael Ham Jr. (born December 23, 1948) is an American former professional football player who played as an outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1971 to 1982. He is considered one of ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Givens was selected by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

in the eighth round (213th overall) of the 1993 NFL Draft, after dropping because he was considered undersized for the

position. Because of his speed, he was tried both at

and

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

, before being waived on August 30.

Chicago Bears

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, before being released on August 18.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL)

, he signed with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. He was released the next year.

Baltimore Stallions (CFL)

On August 9, 1995, he was signed by the

of the

. He was the backup of

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

O. J. Brigance and was a part of the team that won the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

that season.

Toronto Argonauts (CFL)

In 1996 he signed with the

, where he played at linebacker and rush end. He won two straight

s with the team. His 182 fumble recovery yards in 1997, was a CFL single season record.

San Francisco 49ers

In 1998 he signed with the

, where he was voted as a

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

captain in the two seasons he played with the club.

Washington Redskins

Givens signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

on April 13, 2000. He was cut on November 9.

Toronto Argonauts (CFL)

On July 29, 2002, he signed with the

. He was released the next year.

Ottawa Renegades (CFL)

The

Ottawa Renegades The Ottawa Renegades were a Canadian Football League franchise based in Ottawa, Ontario founded in 2002, six years after the storied Ottawa Rough Riders folded. After four seasons, the Renegades franchise was suspended indefinitely by the league ...

convinced Givens to come out of retirement to play for them in 2004. He was released on March 30, 2005.

Personal life

Givens is a fitness and wellness coach with his own company Blitz Mobile Fitness. He is also a real estate broker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Givens, Reggie 1971 births Living people American football linebackers People from Emporia, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia Canadian football linebackers Penn State Nittany Lions football players Baltimore Stallions players San Francisco 49ers players Toronto Argonauts players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Washington Redskins players American players of Canadian football