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NCAA all-time TD leader, Navy's Keenan Reynolds, drafted by Ravens

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

One of the greatest service academy players in many, many years — really, in the storied history of service academy football — will get a shot in the NFL.

Navy's Keenan Reynolds, who set an NCAA career record with 88 touchdowns and an FBS record with 4,559 rushing yards, was taken in the sixth round by the Baltimore Ravens. That's not far from Annapolis, where Reynolds became a big-time college football player. He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting last year.

(AP)
(AP)

Reynolds' position has been debated, though it seems his best fit might be as a slot receiver.

The transition to the NFL is not as easy for service-academy players as it is for everyone else. Everyone else gets a phone call, puts on a hat and makes football their full-time job. If you graduate from a service academy like Navy, you have a five-year service commitment.

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That has been an issue for Army, Navy and Air Force players with NFL dreams through the years. However, last year Navy long snapper Joe Cardona was selected by the New England Patriots and played with them all season. Cardona was allowed to work one day a week at Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I., and serve full time in the offseason. The academies take the service commitment seriously, as they should considering taxpayer money is used to put every man and woman in a service academy through that school. But there are ways for players to live their NFL dreams and also serve. 

"Newly commissioned ensigns who do not proceed directly to entry-level training are assigned temporary duties while awaiting assignment in the Navy," said Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, spokesman for the Chief of Naval Personnel, in an email to the Capital Gazette. "This is done routinely for newly assessed officers."

Reynolds could also have to serve active duty and then do reserve duty for the remainder of his commitment, as others have.

We'll see how Reynolds is allowed to juggle both, though landing with Maryland's NFL team probably can't hurt. But for now the Ravens are taking a shot on an officer and a tremendously talented football player.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!