Guard/center Dallas Reynolds described this past weekend as a "roller coaster." And it was probably the most fitting description.
After toiling for three years on the practice squad, Reynolds made the Eagles' 53-man roster out of the preseason for the first time. However, Reynolds' younger brother, Matt, did not enjoy the same type of celebration. A rookie free agent signing of the Panthers out of BYU, Matt Reynolds was released at the final roster cutdown.
"It was disappointing that he got released, but I've been there before. I know it's not the end when you've been released," Dallas Reynolds said. "The thing we told him was to keep on working. It only took him a couple of days to find a spot."
Matt Reynolds was not out of work for long. The Eagles signed him to their practice squad on Monday.
"It's a pretty unique situation," Matt Reynolds said. "It feels pretty normal to me. I've had a brother on my team every year. It feels good to be back with Dallas."
The Reynolds family is football royalty at BYU. Dallas and Matt's father Lance is an assistant head coach and tight ends coach. A former Philadelphia Eagle, Reynolds earned Honorable Mention All-America accolades at BYU. He is entering his 29th year of coaching at BYU. All four of his sons have played or are currently playing for the program - Lance Jr., Dallas, Matt and Houston, who is a junior on the current team.
Dallas and Matt were teammates at BYU in 2008, when Dallas was a senior and Matt was a redshirt freshman. Dallas was the starting center and Matt was the starting left tackle. Dallas signed with the Eagles as a rookie free agent in 2009 and was promoted to the active roster that season, but never played in a game. He always had his practice squad eligibility to fall back on until this year. With that exhausted, Reynolds knew it was now or never.
"I knew in the back of my mind that my three years of practice squad were over, so it was either make the team or not; and you want to provide for your family," said Reynolds, who has a wife, Suzanne, and a daughter, Sharae.
Watching his brother persevere has served as inspiration to Matt, who understands that the end of his opportunity with Carolina simply opened a new chapter with the Eagles.
"It's really impressive to see how he's grown, how he's developed, to be a player that the Eagles can now trust to put on the 53-man roster. It's very impressive," Matt Reynolds said. "I have a good support system. People were there telling me that they believe in me and telling me to trust in the process. Luckily, I've been able to end up here and tread some more water."
Head coach Andy Reid didn't make any special calls to Dallas to let him know that his brother was coming to town. Matt, in fact, was the one to tell Dallas the good news.
"He called to say open up your spare bedroom; I'm on my way up," Dallas Reynolds said.
The two Reynolds lockers are on opposite sides of the locker room. Dallas' locker is housed with the rest of the offensive linemen while Matt's locker is in the section between the running backs and the linebackers. Fitting that the two are together in the City of Brotherly Love, Dallas will do everything to help his younger brother out.
"I'll show him the ropes. You want him to succeed," Dallas Reynolds said. "We've had some good conversations over the past couple of days."
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