No Navy Midshipmen football player will ever wear the jersey no. 19 again, as the school is retiring it in honor of quarterback Keenan Reynolds.
Navy announced on Sunday that Reynolds' jersey number was retired at a banquet for the football team, becoming just the fourth player in school history to receive the honor. Reynolds joined Roger Staubach (12), Joe Bellino (27), and Napoleon McCallum (30) as Navy players whose numbers are retired.
Congratulations to Keenan Reynolds whose jersey #19 was officially retired tonight at the #NavyFootball Banquet. pic.twitter.com/LiGexHIMqX
— Navy Athletics (@NavyAthletics) February 28, 2016
"This is quite an honor and something that I never dreamed would happen," Reynolds said in the release. "I give all the credit to my teammates. This is a group honor and without my teammates over the past four years none of this would have been possible. I would like to thank Vice Admiral Carter, Mr. Gladchuk and Coach Niumatalolo for this unbelievable honor that I will never forget."
Reynolds set Football Bowl Subdivision single-season records for rushing touchdowns in a season with 88 and the most rushing yards by a quarterback over the course of his career with 4,559, CBS Sports noted. Reynolds also led Navy to a 7-1 season in the AAC and 11-2 overall, coming one win short of playing for the conference title. Navy also finished 18th overall on The Associated Press' final Top 25 poll.
Reynolds capped his historic collegiate career finishing fifth overall in voting for the Heisman Trophy, receiving 20 first-place votes.
