Tip Reiman Jr. (born September 17, 2001) is an American 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

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

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

and was selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

Early life

Reiman was born on September 17, 2001, and grew up in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

. He attended St. Thomas More High School there before transferring as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

to O'Gorman Catholic High School in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

, where he played football as a

after having seen action at several positions previously. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he helped O'Gorman win the state championship game. He also participated in track and field. Reiman received

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

offers from the

South Dakota Coyotes The South Dakota Coyotes, also known as the USD Coyotes ( ), are the athletic teams for the University of South Dakota. Their team colors are vermilion and white. They have been members of Summit League of the NCAA's Division I since the 2011� ...

and

South Dakota State Jackrabbits The South Dakota State Jackrabbits are the 19 intercollegiate teams representing South Dakota State University that compete in the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I (for football: Football Championship Subdivision). Sout ...

, but opted to walk-on to play for the

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at Illinois in 2020, Reiman played all eight games and was mostly used on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He received a scholarship from the school in 2021 and that year played 12 games, three as a starter, recording three receptions for 43 yards. The following year, he recorded 19 receptions for 174 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

while starting all 13 games. He returned for the 2023 season and became team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

; he recorded 19 receptions for 203 yards and three scores while starting all 12 games. Off the field, Reiman was named Academic All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

each year from 2021 to 2023. Reiman declared for the

and was invited to the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

Professional career

2024 season

Reiman was selected by the

in the third round of the

with the 82nd overall pick. He began his rookie season as the Cardinals' third tight end behind starter Trey McBride and second-stringer Elijah Higgins. Reiman made his NFL debut in Week 1 of the

2024 NFL season The 2024 NFL season was the 105th season of the National Football League (NFL). The season began on September 5, 2024, with reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City defeating Baltimore in the NFL Kickoff Game. The regular season concluded on ...

in a loss to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. In his first game, Reiman played 31 total snaps (20 on offense and 11 on special teams). In Week 5 against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

, Reiman recorded his first NFL reception for five yards as the Cardinals won 24-23. In addition to their roles as tight ends, both Reiman and fellow tight end Elijah Higgins saw time at fullback due to the Cardinals not carrying a true one on their roster. As a rookie, Reiman played in 17 games and started 9, playing 450 offensive snaps and 189 special teams snaps. He saw extensive usage as a blocker, both in pass protection and as a run blocker. Reiman's playing time gradually increased and he went from the Cardinals' No. 3 tight end at the start of the season to their No. 2 tight end by the end of the season. Reiman recorded 6 receptions on 7 targets for 37 yards. Reiman played 395 snaps aligned as a tight end, 20 snaps as a fullback, 23 as a

slot receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense, WR gets its name from the player being split ...

, and 23 snaps out wide.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bioIllinois Fighting Illini bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reiman, Tip 2001 births Living people American football tight ends Arizona Cardinals players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Players of American football from South Dakota Sportspeople from Rapid City, South Dakota American people of German descent