Just how dramatically has the course of newly signed Washington tight end Sammis Reyes' life changed overnight?
On Tuesday, he signed his contract, ensuring he'll earn an NFL salary. Prior to that? He spent the better part of five months making food deliveries for DoorDash to earn money during the pandemic.
"I was training people for basketball to make a little bit of money, so I was training just local kids," Reyes informed reporters Wednesday of his pre-pandemic business. "I tried to invest my own money to make additional income, so everything that I was making I was trying to invest."
But a year ago, those financial prospects suddenly dried up. It turns out nobody wanted the personal touch of a trainer during a global pandemic, when people were fearful of even leaving their homes.
"I was doing DoorDash," Reyes said. "I did DoorDash for like five months during the quarantine because no one wanted to train, so I couldn't train anyone because of COVID. So I got on the road and I was on the road eight hours a day driving DoorDash. That's the reality of what I was doing."
Reyes originally came to the United States at the age of 14 aspiring to play in the NBA, but after two less than inspiring seasons playing collegiately at Tulane, the 6-foot-7 athletic talent decided it was time to make other plans.
This year he became one of 11 international athletes — hailing from nine different countries — selected for the NFL's annual International Player Pathway Program. Normally, a player selected for the program has until the end of training camp to try to make his team's 53-man roster, and if he doesn't, the team is granted a practice squad exemption to keep that player throughout the season.
But Reyes impressed scouts so thoroughly at Florida's pro day earlier this month, turning heads with his 40-inch vertical jump and 4.65 40-yard dash, that Washington decided it better go ahead and just sign him right now.
