Syracuse Orange football's 8th-year senior David Reese shares touching story of his hard journey
Syracuse's defense will be led in part this season by an eighth-year senior.
That's right. David Reese has been in college football double the amount of many careers.
And it's been quite the journey for the Cal transfer who just joined the Orange for this season.
He started his college career at Florida, where he was a redshirt. He has missed a season with a torn Achilles. He has also missed a season with a torn patellar tendon. Add to that COVID eligibility and Reese is still going.
'When people tell me God ain't real I kind of have to look at them crazy,' Reese told syracuse.com. 'Being able to come back from an Achilles injury and accomplish what I was able to accomplish, I amazed myself.'
Reese spent two seasons at Cal and recorded 11 sacks and five forced fumbles across the two campaigns as a playmaking edge rusher.
He has learned lessons from the tough journey.
'I started to realize they were all like stepping stones throughout my life,' Reese told syracuse.com. 'Building me up as a person, building my character.'
He chose Syracuse over UNLV and Oklahoma State because of the way he connected with Fran Brown.
'It was about who I am as a person off the field,' Reese said. 'Stuff like that really drew me to him because you don't always hear a head coach preach about believing in God, believing in hard work. That was really big for me.'
This will be Reese's final college season. And now in central New York, he hopes to make the most of a single campaign for the Orange at the end of an incredible adventure.
MORE: Syracuse has a 17-year old freshman who could be a 2-way player
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