Austin Reiter: Manatee Native Dons Chiefs Jersey At Super Bowl LV

LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL — A familiar face took the field wearing a Kansas City Chiefs jersey during the team's Super Bowl LV match-up against home team Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday.

Kansas City’s starting center, Austin Reiter, is a 2010 graduate of Lakewood Ranch High School in Manatee County. From there, he went on to play football for the University of South Florida before launching his NFL career.

He makes his second consecutive Super Bowl appearance Sunday after the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in 2020.

Reiter’s former football coach at Lakewood Ranch and a physical education teacher at the high school, Mic Koczersut, told the school’s news outlet, Mustangs Ahead, in 2020, that he “was a very hard-working kid, who was especially gifted athletically.”

Playing guard and tackle for the Mustangs, Reiter moved to center at USF.

After college, he entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick — the league’s 222nd overall — by the Washington Redskins in 2015, according to the Chiefs website.

His NFL journey had a difficult start, according to USF Athletics. “He was on the practice squad, suffered a season-ending ACL injury and was cut twice before signing with the Chiefs in 2018.”

He was released by Washington in 2016, joining the Cleveland Browns. His first NFL start came that same year when the Browns played his former team, the Redskins.

"My journey has taught me patience,'' Reiter told USF Athletics. "I have a friend in Sarasota, David Baas, who played at Michigan and in the NFL. He told me to always prepare like I was the starter. That stuck with me.”

He added, "You're going to get your shot. When you do, you have to be ready and make the most of it.''

The fifth-year offensive lineman is in his third season with the Chiefs after joining the team in 2018. Reiter made his first start for Kansas City against the Denver Broncos Oct. 28, 2018. He’s since become an integral part of the team’s offensive line-up.

Former USF linebacker Sam Barrington recalled playing with Reiter, calling him “a tremendously hard worker” who “plays with great heart.”

Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy told USF Athletics that Reiter is a “very cerebral player.”

He said, "He takes a tremendous amount of pride in not taking anything for granted in the classroom. He takes detailed notes, understanding that playing the center position there's a lot of communication that you have to learn real fast and be able to spit it back to others.”

If the Chiefs win Sunday night, this would be Reiter’s second championship ring.

“It promotes the dream,” he told the Miami Herald. “All these kids on these high school teams, these young, impressionable kids. I don’t think I was in high school thinking I was going to play in two Super Bowls. But if I can instill that dream in these Manatee County kids playing football, I think it’s awesome.”