Reginald Etoy Branch (born October 22, 1962) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

West Virginia State Yellow Jackets The West Virginia State Yellow Jackets (also WVSU) are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia State University, located in Institute, West Virginia, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Yellow Jackets compete as members of the ...

and

East Carolina Pirates The East Carolina Pirates are the sport, athletic teams that represent East Carolina University (ECU), located in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams participate at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA ...

Early life

Reggie attended Seminole High School in

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city and the county seat of Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is located in Central Florida and its population was 61,051 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical ...

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

Jeff Blake Jeffrey Bertrand Coleman Blake (born December 4, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the East Carolina Pirates. Bl ...

's father.

College career

Reggie began his college career at

West Virginia State West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Color ...

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

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

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 an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the East Carolina Pirates. He is now the running ba ...

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

Personal life

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 Sportspeople from Sanford, Florida Players of American football from Seminole County, 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 20th-century American sportsmen {{runningback-1960s-stub