Many would assume that Bill Belichick’s favorite football player is Tom Brady; after all, they did manage to win nine AFC Championships and six Super Bowls together. Nevertheless, the veteran head coach would be hard-pressed to take anyone over the former Baltimore Raven and Super Bowl champion, Ed Reed.
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Belichick’s love for the Hall of Fame safety is no secret either. He routinely praised Reed in both the media and in the Patriots’ film room for years, and even implored Brady to write “look out for #20” on his play sleeve before each of their games.
According to the nine-time Pro Bowler himself, that can only be interpreted as the greatest of honors. “They call him the GOAT, right? So, I guess I am a GOAT herder. Right? I mean, he wrote my name on his call sheet on his wrist. How many players did he do that for?” Reed smugly noted during a recent interview.
Of course, he made sure to clarify that there’s a mutual respect and admiration between the three of them.
“I appreciate Belichick and Brady studying me like that, because I studied them like that… They were some of the best to go against. They pushed the envelope on the field in terms of knowledge… I appreciate that… They brought the best out of you.”
Reed was one of the very few defenders who was capable of ruining any quarterback’s Sunday, as even the likes of Brady, Peyton Manning, and every other signal caller from the past generation routinely struggled against his IQ and playmaking abilities. Although there was one notable QB who managed to avoid being intercepted by Reed, and it still haunts the former Raven to this day, apparently.
When asked if there was ever a quarterback who wanted to pick off that he wasn’t able to, Reed promptly named the former Green Bay Packer, Brett Favre. “I dropped five of his picks. I actually dropped five interceptions in one game. Five picks, one game, Brett Favre threw them all to me. Some money ain’t good money,” he explained.
At 46 years of age, many believe that Reed would be the perfect candidate for a coaching job at either the collegiate or professional level. Heralded by many as the best safety to ever grace the gridiron, the depth of his knowledge would almost certainly benefit the next generation of players.
Few, if any, understood the X’s and O’s to the extent that Reed does, and conveniently enough, there seems to be at least one CFB head coach who has a particular interest in hiring NFL Hall of Famers. Deion Sanders has already managed to add not one but two NFL legends to the Colorado Buffaloes’ coaching staff, those being Marshall Faulk and Warren Sapp.
Should Reed ever become interested in pursuing a coaching position, perhaps Colorado would be the perfect place for him, as he’d seemingly fit right in with his fellow Hall of Famers. Until then, however, the five-time All-Pro figures to make several more appearances in the nightmares of those aforementioned quarterbacks who had the displeasure of playing against him for more than a decade.
