ASHBURN, Va. — If you know Washington Commanders’ safety Jeremy Reaves by reputation or by interaction you know one thing undeniably: There’s nothing he does without intent behind it.
Whether it’s playing defense, chasing down a play on special teams, or being known as simply one of the most likable Commanders on the roster ever since he arrived at the league as an undrafted free agent. ‘All-Pro Reavo’ does everything with a purpose.
So when he tore his ACL in Week 5 of the 2023 NFL season nobody doubted his return to the field was coming. And the fact that he’s returned to form one year after suffering the injury surprises nobody in Washington.
Because of it, he was named the recipient of the Commanders’ 2024 Ed Block Courage Award.
“The story kind of speaks for itself. I've kind of been through the wringer with it all, man,” Reaves said to WUSA9’s Chick Hernandez in an exclusive conversation ahead of the team’s Week 15 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. “I've been through every high and low you can in this game. I think the one thing that just separated me is just, I didn't quit through any of it. So I don't take any of that stuff for granted, man. It's a blessing that my teammates recognized the work that I put in, and it's really more so a testament to them, honestly.”
On a team where nobody wants to take credit for success and is more than happy to do so when it comes to failures, it's no surprise to hear Reaves turn the credit for the award back on his teammates. As head coach Dan Quinn has pointed out several times, however, you can really tell how much a guy is thought of by the way his teammates celebrate him.
Getting this award is no small compliment. When it comes to overcoming adversity, few have done it with the passion, energy, and success that Reaves has. How many undrafted free agents become All-Pros in the NFL? Not many.
In fact, that number is probably about as high as the amount of folks who expected the turnaround Washington has gone through in this first year with general manager Adam Peters and coach Quinn.
Reaves is part of a small group of Commanders who have been retained from the previous rosters to help create winning with this new one. His embodiment of what this new team is looking for in a player is part of the reason he has the opportunity to be part of fixing what once went so wrong.
And it is the same thing that made him an All-Pro special teams player and has him in the top 10 of Pro Bowl voting this year among other NFL special teams standouts.
“It's just will,” Reaves says about how to be successful as a special teams player. “Special teams at the end of the day is, ‘I'm not going to let the guy in front of me win.’ That's all it is. It comes down to who wants it more for that five or six seconds a play last, and it's just repetitive over and over and over again. It's a pride thing. I think every man that's born into the world comes with a sense of pride. And then when you're out here, it adds a different element to it. This is what feeds my family and this is what provides for everybody around me. So it's a sense of pride and it's a sense of I won't be denied, man. That's how the mentality you have to have with it.”
It’s the same mentality Quinn and his coaching staff want every player to have. The mindset of a man who won’t let not being drafted prevent him from carving out an NFL career. One who won’t let primarily playing on special teams from becoming one of the best - if not the best - in the league. And one who won’t let a torn ACL prevent him from being part of the best pro football reclamation project this season.
We call it courage, he calls it pride, but no matter what label you slap on it, its potency is as undeniable as it is contagious, and it is because he’s not the only one with it that Washington is on the cusp of earning a spot in the 2024 NFL Playoffs.
