Around that same time, Reggie found out his mother, Ann White, was a diabetic, and that his father, Reggie Ragland, Sr., had suffered a stroke.

His mother was the rock of the family—the one who always preached that if he was going to start something, he was also going to finish it.

"My mom made sure that I kept my head right in school," Reggie explained, "but my dad made sure I had that mental toughness on and off the field."

Reggie's father helped instill the passion and drive for whatever Reggie was going to end up doing in life.

His dad was the one to always keep him grounded, going through the mistakes Reggie made in the game that night back in high school, while everyone else was busy singing his praises.

"My dad was always being hard on me and making sure that people were never going to give me nothing in life, basically," Reggie noted. "He always meant well. Me and him bump heads like that all the time, but that's my dog though. I love that man."

Reggie remembered one day when he was seven years old that his father took him out to work with him. His dad had worked as a laborer—doing whatever he could, whether it was painting houses, cutting grass, or whatever—to support his family.

"He was like, 'Man, do you want to do this type of work or do you want to be able to do what you want to do?" Reggie recalled of the conversation with his dad that day, which has stuck with him.

Now, two of the most influential people in Reggie's life were struggling with their health and he was a few hours away at college—also struggling. And all of this came after being destined for greatness since he was a kid by those who were now wondering what had happened.

Then, it got even worse.