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- Mar 20, 2019
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Newly signed Washington Football Team tight end Sammis Reyes took an usual path to the NFL.
Reyes came to the United States from Chile at 14, learned English, and played basketball at Tulane before trying his hand at football. He spent a few months learning the game and working out in Florida in hopes of landing a spot in the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, but wound up doing well enough at workout to land a contract with Washington.
Reyes, who told reporters on Wednesday that the call from Washington was “a moment of true happiness,” has the physical tools teams are looking for. He’s 6’5″ and weighs 260 pounds with a 40-inch vertical and a 4.65 40-yard dash. There’s still a steep learning curve, of course, but Reyes vowed to put in the time necessary to make Washington’s roll of the dice pay off.
“I always tell people: I don’t think there’s going to be anything harder than having to leave home when you’re 14,” Reyes said, via Peter Hailey of NBCSportsWashington.com. “So I’m prepared for whatever comes. . . . What I do know is that no one is going to outwork me.”
Reyes’ odds of making it to the roster may not be that great, but the odds of him getting to this point weren’t much better and that work ethic should serve his bid well in the months to come.