Super Bowl gets closer as Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed says he will return next season. He could be a Hall of Fame player when he retires.
Ed Reed is one of the best defensive players of all-time, but just like his teammate Ray Lewis, the safety is getting old. While Lewis has already said he plans on retiring after the end of the season, Reed has decided to stick around the league a little while longer.
According to ESPN.com, the 34-year-old Reed said he will return to the Baltimore Ravens next season no matter what happens on Feb. 3 in the Super Bowl.
"I'll be playing next year," Reed said Thursday before Baltimore hit the practice field in preparation for their Feb. 3 Super Bowl matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. "No, it's not my last ride. I just bought a bike."
Reed has played in the NFL for 11 years, but over the past couple of seasons, many in the media have wondered if Reed will retire due to the physical demands of his position and his age. Reed has been extremely durable over the past couple years and hasn't missed a game since 2010, when he was forced to sit out of the first six games with a hip issue.
This season he played in all 16 games once again and was one of only two players to do so on the Ravens along with cornerback Cary Williams, who was forced to step up after the season-ending injury to Lardarius Webb.
Reed is one of the most accomplished defensive players in NFL history and has been to nine Pro Bowls, including every game since 2006. He has made a franchise-record 61 interceptions during his career for an NFL-record 1,541 yards.
"There's no other man like Ed Reed," Ravens defensive end Arthur Jones said. "He's passionate and he's such a hard worker. That guy helps me out, and he's a safety. He understands the game at every position."
Reed has another solid season for the Ravens, making 58 tackles with four interceptions, including one that he took back for a touchdown. He also recovered three fumbles and recorded 16 passes defended. His best game of the year came against the New England Patriots in Week 3 when he had a season-high nine tackles and two passes defended in the 31-30 victory.
Reed has been solid for the Ravens through the playoffs, making 10 tackles with two passes defensed. The Super Bowl will be a first for Reed, who will get to play in his home state since the game is in New Orleans.
"It's amazing to be going back to New Orleans," he said. "I'm so grateful. I'm speechless when it comes to talking about going home for this Super Bowl. It's amazing to me. I just give everything to God on that one. This is just amazing. For me to be in my 11th year, like Joe [Flacco] said, everybody doesn't get this chance to even play in the Super Bowl, win the Super Bowl. It's just amazing to me. I'm soaking it up, just really enjoying every minute, every second being around my teammates."
According to NFL.com, Reed and the Ravens have been watching film on Michael Vick to help prepare for 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The Ravens will need to stop the young speedster next Sunday of they hope to win the Super Bowl.
Against Green Bay two weeks ago, Kaepernick had a coming out party, setting a record with 181 rushing yards to go along with 263 yards and two touchdowns while also adding another two scores on the ground. During the regular season Kaepernick went 6-2 as a starter and had a passer rating of 98.7 with 13.1 yards per rushing attempt.
Reed will be a free agent after the season and told the Baltimore Sun that contract negotiations haven't been going on since last year. The Ravens will need to lockup Joe Flacco after the season as well, meaning that Reed will likely have to take a pay cut.
Reed won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 after making nine interceptions for an NFL-record 358 return yards while also scoring one touchdown and recording 76 tackles. Reed has dealt with hip and shoulder injuries in past years, but has played in all 19 Ravens games this season.
"That's a guy [who] could play literally as long as he wants," Ravens reserve safety James Ihedigbo said. "He has the ability to play at a high level and to continue to excel and continue to make plays. He's a phenomenal player."
Reed was drafted in the first round with the 24th pick out of the University of Miami, where he played for the Hurricanes team that won the 2001 National Championship. He was named an All-American multiple times and was named National Defensive Player of the Year by Football News.
Reed continued his dominance in the NFL, making eight All-Pro teams and leading the NFL in interceptions three different times, including in 2010. He was named to the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and holds the record for the longest interception return.
Reed was involved in some news after the AFC championship game when quarterback Tom Brady slid and used his leg to kick the safety as he was coming in for a tackle.
The play occurred late in the first half of the game and had Brady slide to the ground to end an impromptu run. The video shows that Brady's right leg went up a few feet off the ground and hit Reed, who was uninjured on the play. Reed said that he did not mention anything to Brady after the play.
Reed said on Tuesday that Brady reached out to him following the game to apologize for the contact.
"I told him -- you know, we talked," Reed told WJZ-FM in Baltimore. "We talked actually not too long ago, we talked on the phone. He actually reached out to me, texted me. I tried to text him back, but the message exploded after 12 seconds, so I had to call him ... and he's just apologized and what not. But I told him, 'You know, it's good, man.'"
Brady was later fined $10,000 for the slide.
The Ravens defense was mediocre during the regular-season stats wise, but stepped up big-time in the playoffs. The team was ranked 17th and 20th in passing yards and rushing yards given up respectively, but in the playoffs, the team has been much better on both units.