Ryan Reynolds (born September 20, 1986) is a former

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, ...

for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

. He was a four-year standout in football and

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

in high school, both at Lake Havasu High School in Arizona and at

Bishop Gorman High School Bishop Gorman High School (also commonly referred to as Gorman High School or BGHS) is a private Roman Catholic preparatory school located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The school is administered by the Diocese of Las Vegas. The school opened in 1954. ...

Summerlin, Nevada Summerlin is a master-planned community in the Las Vegas Valley of Southern Nevada. It lies at the edge of the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon to the west; it is partly within the official city limits of Las Vegas and partly within uninc ...

, where he was recognized nationally.

High school career

Reynolds was a four-year letterman, two years at Lake Havasu High School and two years at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. He showed his athleticism and versatility, playing linebacker and defensive back on defense and tight end and fullback on offense. He was also a state wrestling champion and a five-time national judo champion. A View Newspaper article called Reynolds the 'most highly recruited high school football player in Nevada history'. As a senior, he recorded 94 tackles (including 12 tackles for loss) and 6 sacks to go along with his junior year totals of 96 tackles and 6 sacks. As a junior, he also ran for a career best 393 yards from his fullback position. He was recognized at the Palo Alto Nike training camp in 2004 for his performance in their SPARQ (Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, and Quickness) test. He scored higher on the test than any player in the Camp's history. As a senior, he was a ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' first team All-American, a '' Parade'' All-American (a publication that also recognized him as the top linebacker in the country), a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

All-American, and Nevada's Gatorade player of the year.

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and ESPN.com both ranked him the No. 2 outside LB in the nation. He was a consensus top 30 player nationally and Rivals.com placed him as the best player in the state of Nevada. He was also selected as the '' Las Vegas Sun'' state defensive player of the year. Reynolds was awarded the 2005

Walter Payton Trophy The Walter Payton Trophy (also known as EAS Speed & Strength Award) has been awarded annually since 2005 to the most athletic high school football player in the United States. Modeled after one of the NFL's all-time greats, Walter Payton, the a ...

at the US Army All-American Bowl awards dinner. At Bishop Gorman, Reynolds was a high school teammate of fellow OU Sooner

DeMarco Murray DeMarco Murray (born February 12, 1988) is an American football coach and former running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. A three-time Pro Bowl selection and one-time first-team All-Pro, he was the NFL Off ...

College career

2005 and 2006 seasons

Reynolds was relegated to special teams as a true freshman, logging tackles against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, and

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. Although he was penciled in as a starter for the Sooners, Reynolds injured his ACL after spring practices and was

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

ed for the 2006 Sooners.

2007 and 2008 seasons

As a redshirt sophomore in 2007, Reynolds appeared in 13 games and recorded 60 total tackles. As a redshirt junior in 2008, he appeared in only six games and recorded 44 tackles.

2009 season

In 2009, Reynolds recorded 79 total tackles to rank third on the Sooners team behind Travis Lewis and

Quinton Carter Quinton Carter (born July 20, 1988) is a businessman and former American football free safety. He played college football for the University of Oklahoma, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted in the fourth round of t ...

. In December, 2009, the NCAA denied Reynolds his request to play a sixth year due to injuries. Reynolds told a reporter at the completion of his college career that he had no interest in pursuing an NFL career.

References

External links

Ryan Reynolds at SoonerSports.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Ryan 1986 births Living people People from Lake Havasu City, Arizona Sportspeople from the Las Vegas Valley American football linebackers Bishop Gorman High School alumni Oklahoma Sooners football players