Football 101: No. 12, Ed Reed
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Maybe this is the best way to sum up the wonder of Ed Reed:
In 2004, when facing the Cleveland Browns, he set an NFL record by reaching down, picking off a deflected Jeff Garcia pass and returning it 106 yards for a touchdown. It’s one of the funniest and most ridiculous things in the mathematical world that the NFL counts end zone yards when talking about kickoff and punt and interception returns. But I love it.
“I really saw it the whole way,” Reed said. He was speaking of the interception and the open space in front of him after he made it … but he could have been talking about his entire career. Nobody saw the field like Ed Reed. But we’ll get back to that.
We’re still not done with the record-breaking interception story.
Four years later, in 2008, Reed and the Ravens were playing at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Reed intercepted the Eagles’ starter, Donovan McNabb, early in the game. Then with the game getting out of hand, the Eagles put in backup Kevin Kolb. And Reed felt joy surge through him.
“You could say our antennae went up,” he would say.
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles moved the ball to the Baltimore four. And then Kolb tried to connect with a receiver in the back of the end zone, but his pass was lazy and Ed Reed stepped in front and picked it off. Then he was off, running, out of the end zone, and Kolb met him at the 20-yard line. Reed, who was an electrifying punt returner when the Ravens really needed him, cut inside and broke free.
Brian Westbrook had him at the 30-yard line, but Reed stopped and then started up again, throwing Westbrook off-balance and sprinting by. Offensive lineman Todd Herremans seemed to be closing in on Reed at the 50 and he dove for his feet, but Reed ran away from him. Tight end Brent Celek chased Reed down at the 23 or so, but Reed cut left and Celek felt helplessly to the ground.
That left only Reed and tight end L.J. Smith — and the two did a sort of dance for those final 20 or so yards, with Reed staying just out of reach as he jogged into the end zone.
That was a 107-yard interception return. He’d broken his own record by one yard.
Those are still the longest two interception returns in NFL history. And they probably always be. And if that’s the only fact you know about Ed Reed’s NFL career, well, it pretty much gets the point across. Ed Reed was the most dynamic safety the game has ever known. His entire career was like one giant big play.