MENU
SECTIONS
OTHER
CLASSIFIEDS
CONTACT US / FAQ
Advertisement
Buffalo Bills tight end Reggie Gilliam sprints up the field during a drill in practice on Wednesday Sept. 9, 2020.
1
MORE

Briggs: For Toledo's Gilliam, a 'surreal' dream comes true

Buffalo News / James P. McCoy

Briggs: For Toledo's Gilliam, a 'surreal' dream comes true

Hoping against hope, they waited for the call.

It was last Saturday, cutdown day in the NFL, and Reginald and Linda Gilliam were driving to Buffalo to visit their son, Reggie, a rookie tight end fighting to break camp with the Bills.

Any minute now, as the mid-afternoon deadline for teams to trim their rosters to 53 players loomed, they would learn whether his storybook ride — which had previously reached its heights at the University of Toledo — would add its best chapter yet or take a momentary detour.

Advertisement

Reggie himself knew the odds were long.

Briggs: Yes, I was wrong about a fall Big Ten football season
David Briggs
Briggs: Yes, I was wrong about a fall Big Ten football season

It is not every year that an undrafted former college walk-on makes an NFL roster, let alone one of a contender during a pandemic that forced teams to close their facilities for four months.

Still, the hell if he wasn’t going to try. Always, he had found a way: from Toledo, where, as a blocking tight end, he became a two-time captain, to Buffalo, where, despite not arriving until late July, he had made it to the final round of cuts.

If anyone could will himself on to a team, it was Reggie, with his big smile, bigger heart, and the motor of a Camaro.

Advertisement

Maybe, just maybe ...

As the anticipation mounted, Linda’s phone rang. She put her son on speaker.

Reggie skipped the greeting.

“I made it.”

Running back Bryant Koback, right, and DeAmonte King run down the field during spring football practice at the University of Toledo in March. MAC officials continue to discuss a restart to the football season.
David Briggs
Briggs: MAC can't afford to play this season, but can it afford not to?

“No, you didn’t,” Linda replied.

“Yes, mom, I made the team!”

Reggie’s biggest fan was so thrilled for her son that his words barely registered.

“The practice squad?”

“No,” Reggie said, “I made the roster.”

“And then it all just sunk in,” Linda said, “and I shouted, ‘Say it again! Say it again!’”

“Mom, I made the team!”

How cool is that?

“Surreal,” Reggie told me last week as he prepared for his NFL debut on Sunday, when the Bills will host the New York Jets.

Thinking back on the phone call to his parents — the emotions of which evoked his call home after he was put on scholarship his junior year at Toledo — he laughed.

He would forgive his mom’s incredulity, except there was nothing to forgive. He couldn’t believe it, either.

“I knew I wanted to be here,” Reggie said, “but it seems like one of those dreams that is unbelievable, like, ‘Wow, this is really my life now.’ It’s amazing.”

And, I should add, well-deserved.

If a lot of athletes talk a big game, all Reggie has ever done is play one, a tribute to what is possible when ordinary traits — hard work, selflessness, resilience — are taken to extraordinary lengths.

Consider his time in Toledo.

A prep running back from Columbus (Westland), Reggie paid his way to UT — the only Division I or II school to so much as offer the chance to walk on — then made everything of the opportunity.

He spent weekdays earning his degree in marketing, and nights and weekends promoting his teammates, embracing his bone-rattling role in the offense. It didn’t matter that he had all of 17 career catches. He had zero complaints and, besides, he gained notice all the same. His effort as a blocker so screamed off the film that he was the first player scouts asked about when they visited Toledo.

“Reggie is a guy who has always put work and responsibility and commitment to being who he said he was going to be ahead of everything else,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said. “That's very rare in today's world with young people. That's really, really hard to do. But Reggie always answered the bell.”

Just as he has in Buffalo.

The pandemic was especially problematic for the many hundreds of fringe NFL hopefuls. Without an invite to the scouting combine, Reggie had looked forward to impressing teams at Toledo’s pro day, including the Bills and Lions. He planned to meet with both teams.

The shutdown canceled the audition and, let’s be honest, could have done the same to his dream.

But then what was one more hurdle in a career of them?

As always, Reggie made do, including with his own pro day. (He bought a tripod for his cell phone at Walmart and filmed a workout.) Once he got his foot in the door as a free agent in Buffalo, well, look out. One “full-throttle” day at a time, the 6-foot, 244-pound plow on wheels vowed to make the Bills’ practice squad.

“And work my way up from the bottom as usual,” Reggie said.

Of course, the Bills had other plans.

While they did not have an obvious place for Reggie — he began camp as a fullback and is one of four tight ends on the Buffalo roster — the coaches knew they had to find a place for him. They liked everything about him. His attitude. Effort. Versatility on special teams. (Remember, Reggie blocked six kicks at Toledo, a program record.)

“We think he has a bright future,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “You can never have too many good football players, and we feel like he's a good football player that is only going to continue to learn, grow, and get better.”

So, yes, Mrs. Gilliam, your son made it, the lone undrafted free agent to crack the Bills’ roster.

“We are so proud of him,” Linda said.

Again, how cool is that?

Better yet, how cool will it be to watch what happens next?

When I asked Reggie if the best pages of his remarkable story remain to be written, I could see him smiling through the phone.

“I guess we’ll see.”

First Published September 12, 2020, 10:09 p.m.

RELATED
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen congratulates tight end and University of Toledo product Reggie Gilliam (86) after Gillam scored his first NFL touchdown during Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins.
BLADE STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Former UT walk-on Gilliam scores 1st NFL touchdown
Former Toledo tight end/fullback Reggie Gilliam (14).
Brian Buckey
Former Toledo standout Gilliam embracing the grind with the Bills
FILE - Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) talks with head coach Kevin Stefanski during practice at the NFL football team's training facility Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Berea, Ohio. It's all about the quarterbacks in the AFC North. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane, File)
David Briggs
Briggs: Dare we suggest this will be the Browns' year?
The Big Ten logo is displayed on the field before an NCAA college football game.
David Briggs
Briggs: Dysfunctional Big Ten must get house in order, make decision
Collin Morikawa holds the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, in San Francisco.
David Briggs
Briggs: The time the PGA Tour's new superstar got an 8 on a par-3 in Toledo
University of Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk shakes hands with the Blue Crew.
David Briggs
Briggs: Could Toledo host a college basketball bubble?
Toledo's Reggie Gilliam is signing as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills.
Brian Buckey
Toledo's Gilliam to sign free agent deal with Bills
University of Toledo TE Reggie Gilliam (14) hopes to hear his name called in 2020 NFL Draft.
Brian Buckey
Toledo's Gilliam awaits potential NFL opportunity
SHOW COMMENTS  
Join the Conversation
We value your comments and civil discourse. Click here to review our Commenting Guidelines.
Must Read
Partners
Advertisement
Buffalo Bills tight end Reggie Gilliam sprints up the field during a drill in practice on Wednesday Sept. 9, 2020.  (Buffalo News / James P. McCoy)
Buffalo News / James P. McCoy
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
Pittsburgh skyline silhouette
TOP
Email a Story