Reynolds attended Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City, where he starred in American football as a quarterback and running back, and at track and field, where he excelled at the javelin throw and 100-yard dash. He played fast-pitch softball for his father's church team, which did not play on Sundays. There, he began dating Dale Earleane Jones, who was named Capitol Hill High School's most outstanding female athlete; she had previously dated Reynolds's younger brother. The couple married on July 7, 1935.