Fact Check: Did Keanu Reeves try out for Baltimore Ravens after impressing 'The Replacements' coaches?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Keanu Reeves is a gift that keeps giving. Whether he’s giving up subway seats or saving puppies on-screen, people love spinning tales about him.

That being said, one such rumor about him comes from his time playing quarterback Shane Falco in the 2000 football flick 'The Replacements'. Reeves was allegedly so good that the Baltimore Ravens invited him to try out for their team.

Did Keanu Reeves try out for the Baltimore Ravens?

The story has been bouncing around social media for years, picking up steam every time someone stumbles across it. Case in point: An Instagram post in October this year boldly declared, “Keanu Reeves was reportedly so good at quarterback while shooting the movie ‘The Replacements’ that the Baltimore Ravens invited him to tryout in 2000.”

Naturally, the post blew up, snagging nearly 150,000 likes. Who wouldn’t want to believe that Neo could dodge tackles just as well as bullets?

But this tale actually goes back to 2013 when ESPN’s Matt Miller tweeted, “I leave you with this: Keanu Reeves was offered a tryout at QB with the #Ravens while filming ‘The Replacements.’”

No sources, no follow-up, just a juicy one-liner that’s lived rent-free in our minds ever since.

And as if Miller’s tweet wasn’t enough, IMDb hopped on the hype train claiming, “During filming, Keanu Reeves was offered a tryout with the Baltimore Ravens.” But their source was a FandomWire article from October, which doubled down on the claim that Reeves impressed the Ravens so much with his on-set QB skills that they wanted him to try out.

However, just like Miller’s post, there’s no actual proof—just speculation.

Keanu Reeves took his training seriously

Keanu Reeves went all in for his role as Shane Falco. Before filming 'The Replacements', he attended a hardcore football training camp in Baltimore, run by pros Allan Graf and Mark Ellis. These guys weren’t messing around—they’d worked on football classics like Oliver Stone’s 'Any Given Sunday', according to Reuters.

In a behind-the-scenes YouTube video titled '2000 Keanu Reeves/Making the plays: an actor’s guide to football/The Replacements,' Ellis gushed about Reeves’ skills.

"He’s got a great arm, he’s real athletic. He could be drafted here at Ravens Stadium [M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore]. [...] Gene Upshaw, the player personnel guy, was looking at him the other day and wanted to have a tryout, so that got a pretty good laugh out of everybody. I’m not so sure he [Reeves] wants to take the hits from these big guys, but he can throw it good enough," he said.

Of course, Ellis was clearly joking—there’s no evidence this “tryout” talk was anything more than locker-room banter. And unfortunately, we can’t ask Upshaw (RIP, he passed in 2008) to set the record straight.

Reeves’ on-set quarterback coach — former NFL player TJ Rubley — had a front-row seat to Keanu’s football evolution. Reeves even called him “an excellent teacher” in that same YouTube video.

Rubley, for his part, told The Athletic in 2022, "Truth be told, when Keanu was done, he could drop back, he could throw just about every throw on the route tree. He probably would have been recruited by Division II or Division III (schools) out of high school."

When Snopes pressed Rubley about the Ravens rumors, he kept things vague saying, “You would have to ask the Ravens about that, but I will say [Reeves] worked very hard and was able to make many throws with the correct footwork and timing needed to play at a high level. He was a true pro and got better every day and was great to work with.”

Verdict: More fiction than fact at this point

So, did the Baltimore Ravens ever seriously consider putting Keanu Reeves in a helmet and pads? Snopes reached out to the team, Reeves, and his representatives to get answers, but there’s been radio silence thus far at the time of writing. Sure, fans have speculated that then-head coach Brian Billick might’ve been intrigued by Reeves’ skills, but there’s no hard evidence to back that up.

For context, the Ravens weren’t exactly struggling back then. In fact, they went on to win Super Bowl XXXV less than six months after 'The Replacements' hit theaters. Did they really need a Hollywood quarterback in their arsenal? Highly doubtful.

Truth be told, these rumors work because it’s just so on-brand for Reeves. The guy’s known for diving headfirst into his roles — whether it’s mastering kung fu for 'The Matrix' or becoming a lethal assassin for 'John Wick.'

Add to that his portrayal of Shane Falco—a scrappy, comeback-story quarterback—and suddenly the idea of him throwing spirals for the Ravens feels... oddly plausible.

Regardless, there’s zero solid evidence that this tryout ever happened.

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