This reflected a growing maturity and was quite a reversal from his early pattern of avoiding the media or being short if not agitated and withdrawn.
“His leadership was more by example than it was being outspoken,” Pagano said of the time in Baltimore, his second stint with Reed. “The way he practiced and set the tempo. He studied the game. He prepared in the offseason, especially with his body and the time he put in. You just don’t play that extended period of time without being in the shape of a younger guy, especially at the end of a long season and late into a career. Guys who are doing this in their thirties are taking care of themselves, and that’s a sacrifice very few make. And if they don’t, they won’t be playing long at a speed position. That’s not luck. That’s the effort fans don’t see behind the scenes.”
And there’s the pain.
“I’ve been playing with a nerve impingement for the last six or seven years,” Reed said at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. “I know that’s affecting me. I tore my labrum early in the year, and that still affects me — working out and everything. It’s just doing a great job with my doctor, who’s really…he comes up to see me every week. So having all that going on physically, plus you have to pay for this service. I pay out of my pocket for my physical well-being. It makes you think. It makes you think about your livelihood after football, how much you’re going to have to spend to take care of your body, the toll that it puts on us. That’s the biggest concern that the NFL has right now.
“Even President Obama, I see, has made a comment on it, and the truth is that football does take its toll. It does take its toll on our life and our body. So that’s why physically, I was assessing myself through the years, and even now, to see how I feel. I’ve been doing some great things with my doctor, to kind of combat against the (aging) that we have. We age faster than everybody for what we do. My whole protocol is surrounded around making sure that you’re taking care of the body. It’s one thing for what God has planned for you, as far as you to see him, seeing your maker. But it’s one thing as far as what you’re doing physically to take care of yourself, as far as your health, as far as your eating, what you’re putting into your body, how you’re working out.
“I used to work out with Sergeant Slaughter over there, Ray Lewis. And I used to be like, ‘Lew’ – and [personal trainer] Monte Sanders can attest to this – like, we’re working too hard. We’re doing too much, and at some point, you’re doing too much, I think. The biggest thing is having someone and knowing your body as best you could to get that full potential out of yourself, by maximizing that. That’s why I’ve performed the way I’ve performed this year, and that’s why I’ve played all the games, and why you don’t see me on the ground wincing as much — because I’ve done enough to help myself to bounce back for this job, because I’m one of the guys who was born for this, who really puts everything into football and puts a lot of things on the back burner.”
And the younger players say that Reed became a mentor to all of the guys in the secondary on ways to take care of their body and ways to improve their game. “I think when you get to the latter part of your [career], you really begin to realize what it’s all about,” he said in 2012. “I’ve always had an open-door policy to these guys to come to my house, watch tape together, or just give them information. We have a lot of young guys, and this business can take a toll on you if you let it. You just try to give them as much information as possible, whether it’s on or off the field.”
Dannell Ellerbe, Arthur Jones and Lardarius Webb all credit Reed with being instrumental to their personal growth since coming into the NFL. Perhaps no player showed more growth than Cary Williams, a 7th round draft pick by Tennessee in 2008 snatched off the Titans’ developmental squad by Newsome in late 2009. By 2011, Williams was starting and en route to earning a huge NFL contract, and he always said Reed helped him to know what was important.
“He is a great professional,” Williams told WNST.net when asked about Reed in 2012. “He is a very vital asset to the organization, to the team, to the defense and to our secondary. We love to be around him. He’s a fun guy. He’s taught us so many things in terms of being a veteran. There are so many things that he’s taught us outside of football that can never be replaced or tarnished. I cherish each and every moment that I have with him.”
Newsome acknowledged Reed’s presence during the Super Bowl run in early 2013. “I can say this, and I’ve been around a few teams: I don’t know if any team has more great leaders and great players than we do,” Ozzie said. “Ed Reed is not only a great player, he’s a great leader. Ed wants to be a coach, so he sees this as an opportunity to start his coaching career by helping those young players come along. But, the thing about Ed, he doesn’t just talk about it, he goes out and works the way you have to work to get it done.”
Hosting film study put Reed’s obsession with football on full display. On a Wednesday or Thursday night during the week even after a long day at the facility with his aging body hurting, his door was open to his teammates. Reed wanted to win. He wanted to get to New Orleans. His career wouldn’t be complete without “two tickets to paradise” and a Super Bowl win. And he knew he needed other people, teammates who wanted to win and who were shown how to win.
But it wasn’t always easy or smooth with Reed. No one in the organization could say that they truly understood him during the middle of his career. Like many holdovers from Billick’s regime, Harbaugh had issues with Reed, and the trust wasn’t instantaneous. They grew closer, especially after his brother’s death in 2011, and once Harbaugh’s success spoke for itself and his methods got the Ravens into the playoffs every year.
Pagano was a stabilizing force, especially in 2008 when Ryan was returning to run the defensive unit after not getting the head coaching job. Harbaugh also had Ted Monachino, who had coached Suggs at Arizona State, so the assistant coaches were designed to make the transition smooth with a few well-paid but hard-to-corral defensive players who were underachieving and disgruntled during the end of Billick’s era.
Reed was a different player at a different place in his career by the time Harbaugh arrived. He was not the aggressive hitter that he was in his prime. Neck, hip, and shoulder injuries took their toll and he rarely looked to make tackles after a rocky 2009 when his body was nudging him to consider an early retirement. Some games it looked like he played with one arm. Some games it was very apparent that his body was telling him to avoid contact, which was never his style. After the January 2010 playoff loss in Indianapolis where he coughed up the ball in the red zone carelessly after intercepting Manning, he openly pondered “being at the end” and retirement was on his radar mostly because his body hurt. He said he was “50-50” to return and play the 2010 season.
After playing three more seasons since that night it’s clear that his vision was the key to his longevity much more than his diminishing physical skills and physicality in the box or in run support tackling. It’s the way he sees the game that makes Reed special into his second decade. Almost savant-like, it’s like the game moves at a slower speed for him even as his personal speed has slowed into his thirties. He anticipates down and distance play calls from the instant rolodex in his brain, especially against veteran quarterbacks whom he’s studied repeatedly. One thing is assured: you know that he’s watched the tape. He’ll read the formation, know the goal of the offense, and assess what they’re trying to do. And then the play unfolds exactly as he knew it was going to and, when it’s done properly, he’s jumping the route and going the other way. That’s the way he’s always done it. And once he learned the art of studying film, he was almost dangerous.
Former teammate Dominique Foxworth told ESPN.com, “It’s all calculated risk based on experience.”
And the risk offensive coordinators don’t like taking, is throwing in the direction of Ed Reed.
“You’ve got to know where No. 20 is,” said Pat Shurmur, longtime quarterback coach in Philadelphia who was also head coach at Cleveland. “And he’s a very instinctive guy. When you watch the way he plays, it’s obvious that he studies the game. You can see he’ll lean on a tendency you might have, and I don’t want to say cheat, but anticipate what you’re going to do. And I think that helps him, and he’s just got great instincts. He’s got probably some of the best ball skills in the league, regardless of position. So, all that makes for what you’re looking for in a safety, and he’s played safety in this league at a high level for a very long time. And I think his talent and his experience and his instincts are all right there.”
