Ravens' Reed: 'You can do it'

The Ed Reed most often seen patrolling the deep middle of the Ravens' defense is renown for improvisation, the ability to get inside an opposing quarterback's head and dedication to film study.

But the Ed Reed who acquired a measure of celebrity as a high school athlete some 15 years ago in tiny St. Rose, La., had little confidence in the classroom, studied just enough to be eligible for sports and skipped school altogether when the mood struck.

"He was a typical young boy," said Jeanne Hall, an academic adviser at Destrehan High School in nearby New Sarpy. "He was very talented, very intelligent. But he didn't apply himself; he was having fun. He was well liked by all the people at the school. He was a big star."

In time, Reed became the first from his area to transfer that stardom onto the big stage, inspiring a whole generation of Louisiana high school athletes, among them Ravens teammate Dawan Landry.

"Coming from my area, seeing the things he did, it gives younger guys hope," Landry said. "It gave me hope. I wanted to be just like him."

If it weren't for the handful of people in that quiet hamlet along the Mississippi River who saw something special in Reed, he might never have made it to Baltimore He might have stayed there, joining dozens of other athletes who didn't have the academic credentials or support to escape to a better life.

Reed made it because a number of people took interest in him. Jeanne Hall was one of them. She and her husband, Walter, took Reed into their home when he was a junior at Destrehan, and he stayed there periodically through his senior year, even though his own home – and family – was just five minutes away.

Hall saw in Reed what she saw in so many other kids: a young child who needed direction and discipline. But in Reed, she also saw someone who had the tools to succeed.

"He was like a sponge," she said. "He wanted to learn. And he was such a charmer."

So much so that when asked about her family, Hall said: "I have four children beside Edward.

He's my baby. He's like a brother to my kids."

Hall's home was a hangout for the Destrehan football team. She hosted pregame parties every Thursday night, and then tutored many of the players on the team. Following the crowd, Reed came to see what he was missing and what he needed.

"I think he actually felt if he was going to make it, he had to take control," Hall said. "I rode him hard about that. I got him onto the college idea. I don't think he bought into it until the end of his junior year."

Reed wrote papers, did his homework -- learned to learn -- at his "second home." He stopped missing class. He even agreed to go to summer school, when he would rather have been in the neighborhood playing sports. "They knew how much I hated summer school," he says now.

Hall eventually saw the light go on.

"He told me one time, 'I never thought I could learn,' " she said. "He never applied himself. He was learning, and the more he tried, the more he enjoyed it. At Miami, he told me how much he enjoyed it. His world blossomed out."

Reed not only flourished at the University of Miami as a football player, he graduated with a degree in liberal arts in May, 2001. He reveled in the moment, crossing the stage to get his degree. In 2002, he became the Ravens' first-round draft choice.

Since then, Reed has steadily evolved into the quintessential safety of his era. In seven seasons with the Ravens, he has been named to the Pro Bowl five times, selected to the All-Pro team three times. In 2004, he was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year.

He has a franchise-record 43 interceptions, the most of any active player who came into the league since 2002. He also had scored 12 touchdowns in a variety of ways, including interception returns of 107 and 106 yards, the two longest in NFL history.

Reed was at his best down the stretch last December, too, when he intercepted six passes in four games to finish with a league-leading nine, despite playing with a nerve problem in his neck and shoulder. He intercepted two more passes in a wild-card playoff win at Miami. He had an astounding five games with two picks.

"When it started clicking for him midway in the season, he was going at a different pace than everybody else," said Mark Carrier, who coaches defensive backs for the Ravens. "[Secondary coach Chuck Pagano] and I just kind of sat back and marveled when he got on that roll, one like I've never seen. It was like the ball was 10 times bigger and everybody else was moving twice as slow as he was."

It is more than the interceptions that make Reed the NFL's best defensive playmaker. He is also known for his uncanny ability to scrutinize game tape to the point where he can anticipate what a quarterback will do on a play before it unfolds.

"He's a very instinctive player, but he also does his homework," Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "He sees stuff because of the film he watches. He's able to process plays real fast, which is pretty incredible. He's always pointing stuff out in the film room."

Reserve safety Tom Zbikowski says Reed has a "football sense" that he has found in no other football player, and in only a few boxers he knows.

"A seasoned fighter who knows the sport can come in and fight for 20 seconds and have you figured out like the back of his hand," Zbikowski said. "That's how Ed is with offense or quarterbacks or receivers. He just knows what a quarterback is thinking."

Hall is not surprised. She knew from the beginning Reed had the intelligence and the passion to do something special. Even though she often travels to Baltimore to see Reed play, she cherishes his work with children at Booker T. Washington Middle School in Baltimore and his football camp in Louisiana more than his football accomplishments.

"I came up for Ed Reed Day [at Booker T.] and I cried through the whole thing," Hall said. "He is what I always imagined he could be, but even more in that he does share. He doesn't have to give the time he gives. He's generous with money, but it's his 'self' that he gives. That's the part of him I'm so proud of."

Reed, who turns 31 on Friday, says he got a lot of help growing up, including from his parents. He idolized his older brother, Wendell Sanchez, as a youngster. Ben Parquet, the student advocate for the St. Charles Parish school system where Reed went, helped steer him on the right path with his athletic ability.

Then there was Hall, who introduced him to the idea he had the ability to go to college.

"I would say she's an angel sent from above," Reed said of Hall. "I always told her, she's an angel not only to me, but a lot of other kids who didn't have the information or guidance to take them to that next level, that you can go to college. That's the same thing I'm preaching now to kids, that you can do it."



(baltimoresun.com)