Reggie Barnes was a star running back in the Canadian Football League

Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

.

Barnes graduated from the Delaware State University

Delaware State University

Delaware State University , is an American historically black, public university located in Dover, Delaware, and there are two satellite campuses located in Wilmington, Delaware, and Georgetown, Delaware...

 in 1988, where he rushed for 1336 yards in 1988 and 3282 during his college career. He was not drafted by the NFL, but signed as a free agent with the New York Jets

New York Jets

The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in 1989 where he spent the entire season on the practice squad.

He came to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 in 1990, and made an immediate impression with the Ottawa Rough Riders

Ottawa Rough Riders

The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. One of the oldest and longest lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, a...

. He rushed for 1260 yards and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award

The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually rewarded to the player deemed to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. This is the fifth-last award to be given during the CFL Awards banquet, which takes place the week before Grey Cup weekend in the same city where it...

. An interesting fact is that CFL legend and Ottawa quarterback Damon Allen

Damon Allen

Damon Allen is a former professional quarterback in the Canadian Football League, most recently with the Toronto Argonauts. He is currently second in all-time professional football passing yards and second in all-time CFL passing yards after he was surpassed for first place by the Montréal...

 also rushed for 1000 yards that year. In 1991 he rushed for 1486 yards and in 1992 he added 926 yards. After a poor 1993 season, he moved to the Shreveport Pirates

Shreveport Pirates

The Shreveport Pirates were a Canadian Football League team, playing at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, in 1994 and 1995....

 in 1994, also playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...

 that season. In 1995 he had a disappointing year with the Toronto Argonauts

Toronto Argonauts

The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

, and he returned to Ottawa in 1996 to finish his career.