Reginald Etoy Branch (born October 22, 1962) 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 wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

in the

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 ma ...

for the

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) ...

. He played college football at

West Virginia State University West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, it is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities ...

and

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...

Early years

Reggie attended Seminole High School in

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 61,051. Known as the "Historic Waterfront Gateway City", Sanford sits on the southern shore ...

. He was Coached by Jesse "celltech", and Emory Blake, former NFL player and NFL quarterback

Jeff Blake Jeffrey Bertrand Blake (born December 4, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. Blake was a member of seven teams during his career, playing his longest stint with the Cin ...

's father.

College career

Reggie began his college career at

West Virginia State West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, it is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities e ...

, where he played only one season. He then transferred to

in the spring of 1981 and was given a redshirt and placed on the practice team. In the spring of 1982, he was moved over to fullback and was the backup to

Earnest Byner Earnest Alexander Byner (born September 15, 1962) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He is now the running back coach of Out-of-Door Academy. Playing career East Carolina University (1980–83) ...

. Reggie's uncle, Tony Collins, was also an ECU running back, along with eventual Washington Redskins teammate Earnest Byner.

Life After Football

Branch worked at the Starboard Restaurant and Bar, located in

Dewey Beach, Delaware Dewey Beach is an incorporated coastal town in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 341, an increase of 13.3% over the previous decade. It is part of the rapidly growing Cape ...

References

1962 births Living people Players of American football from Florida Sportspeople from Sanford, Florida Seminole High School (Seminole County, Florida) alumni American football running backs East Carolina Pirates football players West Virginia State Yellow Jackets football players Washington Redskins players {{runningback-1960s-stub