For five of his six seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, linebacker Mike Reichenbach played alongside the “Minister of Defense” Reggie White.
White’s name surfaces early in the “greatest defensive lineman of all time” debate. And few players matched White’s zeal for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
At the time, Reichenbach the player was not interested in hearing White’s evangelical message. However, he was interested in helping White stop other offenses, which they did quite successfully.
An undrafted rookie out of Division II East Stroudsburg University (PA), Reichenbach latched on with the Eagles in 1984. Being a local kid from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Reichenbach was instantly a fan-favorite.
He reflected on his career at the Bucks County (PA) FCA Big Game Breakfast on January 30.
Mike Reichenbach (left) poses with friend and FCA Bucks County Area Director Scott Leuz
“I thought the greatest destiny in my life was to play in the NFL. I thought if I could make it to the NFL, I could get to that place where life made sense to me. As I rose through the ranks of playing football, the game became more to me than just a game. It became my identity.
“Everything in my life was focused on that,” he continued. “I would work out three times a day. I’d go to the track and run until I was ready to throw up. And then I kept running.”
Runs would be followed by three-hour weight lifting sessions and then stadium steps and ball drills.
The Eagles struggled to mediocre seasons in Reichenbach’s first four years, but in 1988, Philadelphia clinched the NFC East, returning to the postseason for the first time in seven seasons. In 1989, the wild card-winning Eagles had the fifth best scoring defense in the NFL.
Reichenbach was a big part of that success, starting in 56 games from 1985 through 1989. He was the Miami Dolphins’ starting linebacker in 1991, yet he walked away from the game in his prime during the next preseason. His playing career had ended but his spiritual life–Reichenbach accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior in 1989–was just beginning to flourish.
“I made it to the NFL and it was great, don’t get me wrong,” Reichenbach clarified. “What I found, when I came to know Christ, is that the greatest destiny for me was to know God.”
Despite walking away from a lucrative NFL contract and into a mountain of debt, which he had accumulated from his previous lifestyle without the Lord, the linebacker heard God’s calling that the time was right to leave the game. Reichenbach obeyed, and eventually got out of that enormous debt, an act he attributes to God’s provision alone.
“I talked to everyone I knew: my agent, my coaches. They all said to not leave the game in debt. I was in my room reading my Bible and God spoke to me in my heart and said ‘Am I bigger than the giants in your life?’” Reichenbach asked. “For the first time, I was going to commit and be willing to step over the line. And I never declared bankruptcy. This God is bigger than our giants and from that moment forward, I knew to honor Him with my life.”
Reichenbach has coached at Philadelphia's Calvary Christian Academy since the school started a team in 1995. He is a longtime counselor and coach at FCA’s Mid-Atlantic Sports Camp at Kutztown University.
“This is why organizations like FCA are so important,” Reichenbach said. “When the hour is darkest, that is when God wants to move. I was looking for (direction) and there are young people out there right now looking for it, but we need to get engaged."
FCA Q&A With Former NFL Linebacker Mike Reichenbach
FCA: How did you end up at East Stroudsburg University?
Mike Reichenbach: “I wasn’t highly recruited, in fact, I didn’t start until my senior year of high school. When I was in 10th grade, I weighed about 135 pounds so I was a defensive back who had no speed. That was not a good combination! In 11th grade, I went to 165 and they moved me to defensive end. In my senior year, I finally stepped into a starting role. I made some local All-Star teams but nothing monumental. East Stroudsburg was the only school that really showed interest in me. Coach (Denny) Douds, who is still there, visited my high school and said he wanted me to come there.
“I was basically the first person to go to college not in just my immediate family but in my extended family. I didn’t know what college was. I didn’t have a lot of direction when I got there but Coach Douds said ‘I’m going to make you a middle linebacker.’ I came off the field after the first practice and said, ‘You have to move me back to defensive end. I can’t play this position!’ And he said to hang with it.”
FCA: You played in both a 3-4 and a 4-3 defense in the NFL. Which scheme was a better fit for you?
MR: “Early in my career I weighed about 250 so the 3-4 was good because you were taking on guards all the time and head butting. When you’re younger, that’s great but the 4-3 is much better because you have a little more protection. It’s designed to keep the guys off of the linebackers so you can make plays. If I had to pick, I’d say the 4-3.”
FCA: What was it like playing under Don Shula?
MR: “Don was an old school type of football coach. The best thing about Don Shula was that he surrounded himself with good people. He taught me that you never get too close to your players- you’re friendly with them- but some day you may need to cut them.”
FCA: What was it like going against Dan Marino every day in practice?
MR: “He was a technician of the game- a student of the game. His film work and the way he worked with his receivers, his timing- all of that was worked out (ahead of time). He prepared. It was a pleasure playing with him and watching him play.
“We played him when I was in Philly and we blitzed a lot. He was the best at three step drops. We played man-to-man all the time and he’d just throw those fade routes. I said to (then coach) Buddy Ryan, ‘This ain’t working. We’re not getting to him.’ And Buddy would growl, ‘You’re not running it right!’”
FCA: Did Reggie White disciple you as a young Christian?
MR: “We didn’t have a strong fellowship at that time. Reggie would make comments about getting saved and giving my life to the Lord but I wasn’t ready to receive it. But he was the real deal. He lived it and so I respected him. People ask if he was the one who led me to the Lord but it actually was a 15-year old boy. I saw the faith that he had even though he had leukemia and he was dying. He said to me the first time that I had come to his church, and I was broken: ‘The reason you’re in this position is because you don’t have Jesus.’ And that was the beginning.
“Once I gave my life to the Lord- someone went up to Reggie at an autograph session and told him, ‘Mike Reichenbach got saved and goes to our church.’ And Reggie dropped the pen, looked up and said ‘Yeah, right.’ So he had to call me and apologize! He said, ‘Mike, you’re the last guy I ever thought would come to the Lord.’”
FCA: How did you get involved with FCA Camps?
MR: “I’m thankful for (former pro linebacker) Harry Flaherty. He was with me in camp with the Eagles- God brings everybody together. He was a good player and he was very involved with FCA in New Jersey. He kept telling me I had to come out to the Camp. I had young kids, I was going through life, getting out of debt and all of that kind of stuff, but we finally went out and fell in love with FCA because it was similar to the mission statement that we were doing at Calvary. I just went out to help out and coach and in a couple of years, Harry said, ‘You could be the head clinician!’ Now, I’ve been the head clinician for I’ve lost count of how many years. And I love it.”
FCA: What do you try and instruct your players- on and off the field- at Calvary Christian and at Camp?
MR: “When I left the game, I was offered to coach at the professional level and large college level. I didn’t want to coach. What God really needed to do was get me away from the game and grip my heart. I thought football was the problem because it was what I worshipped. As He gripped my heart, he gave me the revelation that we can use football to raise up godly men.
“In 1995, Calvary Chapel decided to start a school. I said to the pastor that I thought we could field a football team as a ministry. I had a vision statement that said I want to use the game to glorify God in all things. It was a great time of growth in my own life: to be a better husband and better father. God worked in my heart coaching these young men.
“I think the greatest thing is to let the players know that you love them. If they know that you care, then that will soften their hearts and they are willing to be stretched then. Too often as coaches, we try and stretch them for the chocolate medals and then we try and tell them that we care about them and that’s backwards.”
FCA: That’s a fascinating statement. Earlier, you mentioned that most coaches use fear and not love to motivate their players.
MR: “Most coaches are still trying to validate themselves. They are sinful men like we all are and we’re all looking for that significance or that thing to accomplish. I was an All-American in college and I have game balls from the NFL. It’s all packed up in my basement under my steps, because I never wanted my past to define where I was going. Someday, we’ll break them out and give them to whomever but I have never wanted that to be the thing that defined me.”
-FCA-
Photos courtesy of Don Leypoldt