Ed Reed is with us today on The Draft Wire on behalf of Snickers to announce the “SNICKERS Hungriest Player” program is returning for the 2020/2021 NFL season. The honor will be awarded to one player each week who has shown hunger for more with big plays and moments on the field.
Snickers once again worked with iconic jeweler Ben Baller to design this year’s Snickers Chain, which is just as impressive as last year.
JM: As a Miami guy, I have to ask you, are you more impressed with this Snickers Chain, or The Turnover Chain?
ER: Come on man, how are you gonna put me on the spot like that? We started The Turnover Chain right here in Miami. Snickers came to the table with an incredible concept. I have to credit Snickers for bringing a great idea to the NFL level. It goes hand-in-hand. You can’t top the NFL, but you can’t top where it started either. It’s 50-50 at the end of the day.
JM: The safety position, which you played at the highest level imaginable, has changed a lot over the years. What are your thoughts on what safeties are being asked to do nowadays?
ER: I don’t know who’s coaching these safeties nowadays. I don’t know what they’re doing from a work standpoint. The scheme matters. One of the most important things for a safety is how his coach decides to utilize him. The scheme matters.
There’s a lot of great safeties in the NFL right now. The position is really evolving. NFL offenses throw the ball a lot more today than they did when I played, especially throughout the early part of my career.
JM: We’re seeing a lot of 2021 NFL Draft prospects opt out of the college football season due to the uncertainty created by COVID-19. We saw quite a few NFL players opt out, as well. What are your thoughts on that, and do you have any advice for the prospects who are going through this?
ER: It’s a tough time for everybody. There’s no doubt about that. I hate that we’re all in this position right now. You have to factor in a couple of things when making the decision to opt out. I’m thinking about it from a player’s perspective. What situation is your family in at this present time? You have to think about the people you surround yourself with.
Me personally, I would be playing this season. I wouldn’t have opted out. That’s just me. I would have done so while making arrangements for my family to make sure they’re protected. I wouldn’t surround myself with people that are being irresponsible or selfish. Unfortunately, you tend to get that in football. You tend to get a few undisciplined players in your locker room. That’s going to impact this season as we go forward.
I’m sure you’ll probably see a few players test positive for COVID-19. Those guys can’t be around the team at that point. I’m praying that it doesn’t happen to anybody. It’s a tough situation to be in. You have to make sure that you’re being smart. You have to do what’s best for you and yours. That comes first and foremost.
JM: Do you remember your “Welcome to the NFL” moment?
ER: Yeah, I got booed in Baltimore (laughs). They booed me for wearing a Jim Brown jersey.
JM: Wow, when did that happen?
ER: It happened during my rookie year (laughs). I had just gotten drafted by Baltimore. We had a little meet and greet event for the rookies. I walked on stage and everybody starts immediately looking at me. I think they were trying to figure out who I was. Everybody was just starring at me. Nobody was even saying anything at this point.
They weren’t even looking at me, personally. They were looking right at the jersey (laughs). I eventually figured that out when they introduced me and brought me up on stage.
“Here’s our rookie, Ed Reed.” I walk on stage and they’re booing me! “BOOO! Take it off!” (laughs). I’m thinking, “Man, it’s Jim Brown!” (laughs). It’s not even a Cleveland jersey, it’s a Jim Brown jersey before it’s a Cleveland jersey.
JM: That’s an amazing story. I bet you quickly learned how passionate the fans were in Baltimore.
ER: I really did. I took off the jersey and the crowd went bananas (laughs). That was my “Welcome to the NFL” moment, welcome to Baltimore. The fans are crazy here (laughs).
JM: I often come across the debate regarding which college football team fielded the greatest secondary in history. I know your answer to this question is the 2001 secondary you played for in Miami, and I agree with that. Why is that 2001 Miami secondary the greatest of all time?
ER: I love that you didn’t even have to ask (laughs). For one, look at the draft picks. Look at what we did, look at how we won. We had Phillip Buchanon back there. We had guys like Mike Rumph and Markese Fitzgerald. We had so many guys that had an opportunity to play in the league, and some guys that didn’t.
Sean Taylor was a backup for us. That’s a Hall of Fame safety right there. We were so deep. Obviously, yours truly was on that team, as well (laughs). We didn’t take any crap from nobody. We went undefeated, 12-0.
What else can I say? We could have matched up against anybody at any given time. Put us up against any other secondary in the history of college football and I guarantee you that we come out on top.
With that said, I’m not going to disrespect the NFL by saying we could go toe-to-toe with an NFL team. You can’t put us up against an NFL team. I played in the NFL and I would never disrespect any NFL team like that.
Fans can follow #SNICKERSchain on social media for the chance to win rewards and weigh in on which player deserves the chain each week.
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