Over the next few weeks, GoColumbiaLions.com will take a look at the teams, student-athletes, coaches and staff members set to be inducted in the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame this October. Our next installment features one of the greatest running backs in program history.
Johnathan Reese '02CC
Johnathan Reese put a record-breaking four-year spell on Morningside Heights and was the focus of every defense he lined up against in college.
He graduated from Columbia as the school's all-time leading rusher (3,321 yards), a two-time honorable mention All-American and cemented his place in Columbia football folklore with perhaps the most dominant season in Columbia's history, when he rushed for 1,330 yards with 18 touchdowns and averaged 36.
Transferring from St. Louis Country Day School, Reese made an immediate impact upon his arrival. In his first game, rushing for 72 yards in limited duty, he helped the Lions notch up a 24-0 shutout over Harvard in 1998 season opener. Although not a starter, he rushed for 417 yards on 99 carries to help him win Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
Then came his phenomenal junior season in 2000, perhaps the most spectacular individual year any Lion ball carrier has ever had. Reese put together a string of masterclass performances (including a single-game record-breaking 236-yard performance against Dartmouth), making it the most prolific rushing season in Columbia's long football history. A magical season was rounded off with an All-Ivy League first team selection and All-America honorable mention.
Bill Steinman, former Director of Athletic Communications heaped praise on Resse's athleticism - “Football, for years, has been a run-oriented game. For Johnathan Reese to have made the impact he did is amazing since football is still much the same as they were doing it then.”
He would go on to captain the Lions during the 2001 season, leading the Lions to three victories in the Ivy League, the most for the program since the 1997.
Upon his graduation, he spent three seasons with the New York Jets and currently serves as Security and Operations Manager for the NFL Players Association
