Ed Reed has been a classy guy throughout his career. Ever since he was a first round pick out of Miami in 2002, Reed had been a leader on the Ravens, a general on the field behind Ray Lewis. He quickly built up a reputation as a hard hitting safety with a very high football IQ that saw him record 61 interceptions, 11 forced fumbles, and 13 defensive touchdowns in his career. Not to mention 9 Pro Bowl and 9 All-Pro selections and a likely Hall of Famer.
Following a Super Bowl victory last year, Reed brought his leadership and smarts to Houston and signed with the Texans. Apparently those smarts lost a step or two in the locker room this year because Reed was cut by the Texans after publicly calling out the coaching.
“We played really well outside certain situations. Certain situations we just got outplayed…and outcoached.”
According to a report from CBS Houston, Reed reeeeeally dragged out that ‘outcoached’ part in a way to emphasize how strongly he felt about it. The Texans, clearly unhappy about getting shown up by Reed, dismissed him (and his remaining $6 million).
You can’t really blame Reed, though. The Texans were preseason Super Bowl contenders. They brought him in to anchor a strong defense to complement their juggernaut offense and solid coaching. But then Matt Schaub decided to set the NFL record for consecutive games with a pick-6, T.J. Yates got hurt before he could prove to the world he is terrible, and the defense has blown lead after lead and been picked apart.
That sucks when you’re a 9-time Pro Bowler and it seems he couldn’t take it anymore. He was brought in to build the team up, not watch it get shellacked week after week, so they cut him for actually saying something about how awful the team has been playing (and coached)?
Reed is certainly not the player he was in his prime, but he is most definitely better than second stringer Shiloh Keo, a 2011 5th round draft pick that has started a mere four games in his career. Come on, Houston. Do you really want a guy named Shiloh as your starting safety?
This could be a blessing in disguise for Reed, considering he’s probably going to get picked up by a contender any time now.
