He is a two-time Pro Bowler, the 2004 NFL defensive player of the year and the highest-paid player at his position in the game.
Still, Ravens safety Ed Reed is nowhere near being satisfied with his career. He enters the 2006 season feeling like he has a lot more to accomplish, both at the team and individual levels.
This fact is magnified even more with the Ravens coming off back-to-back seasons of missing the playoffs, including 2005, when Reed missed six games with a high ankle sprain.
“It was a learning experience,” Reed said of last season. “I?ve never been there before, so it was definitely a learning experience for me. I got a chance to sit back and learn about my teammates. It was a great deal for me, and unfortunately I was hurt going through it. But like I said, you can look at it as two different experiences, and I looked at it as a learning experience.”
Reed?s determination to improve and his desire to succeed comes as he recently signed a seven-year, $40 million contract extension, including $15 million guaranteed. Although happy with the financial security of the contract, the five-year veteran out of the University of Miami said he refuses to let that change him as a person.
“Money doesn?t define me,” Reed said. “It never did; it never will. I?m a football player, and I go ahead with that. We need certain things to survive, so that was just something that was added to me. It was a blessing first and foremost, and I thank the Ravens for that.”
Ravens head coach Brian Billick said Reed is not the type of player that would let a big-time contract diminish his desire to succeed on the field.
Reed has “never shied away from taking a leadership role, contract or no contract,” Billick said. “But obviously, he?s got less on his mind now than he would have been.”
For most of the Ravens? 10 previous seasons in Baltimore, defense has defined the franchise, with middle linebacker Ray Lewis leading that group. However, in recent years, Reed has become just as much, if not more, of a focal point for opposing offenses as they develop their game plans for the Ravens. This fact only motivates Reed to work harder and become an even better player.
“[I] think I still have a long way to go because they?re watching me, more so than anything,” Reed said. “It?s a matter of finding ways to get around quarterbacks and knowing their reads and knowing what they?re looking at and studying [them] more than they study me.”
Current Ravens wide receiver DerrickMason knows this all too well. The former Tennessee Titan played against Reed before coming to Baltimore as a free agent in 2005. He said Reed is not only a talented player, but an intelligent one who reminds him of former Ravens defensive back Rod Woodson.
“Even though [Woodson] lost a step, it seemed like he gained a step because of his knowledge, and Ed falls into that category,” Mason said. “The guy is a phenomenal athlete, yet you still have athletes who aren?t smart in the game. But Ed is a guy that is smart in the game. So with that smartness and athleticism, he is the top free safety in the game.”
THE REED FILE
» Age: 27
» Height: 5-foot-11
» Weight: 200
» College: Miami (Fla.)
» How acquired: First round, 2002 draft (24th player selected overall)
» Did you know? Reed has 22 career interceptions, the most in Ravens? history ? Prior to last season, he had appeared in every regular-season game for the Ravens between 2002 and 2004 ? He led the league with nine interceptions in 2004, including a 106-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns.
– Photo by Chris Ammann/Examiner
