Former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a first-ballot nominee back in 2019 after 12 brilliant seasons in the NFL.
Though, if it were up to Reed he’d still be playing at the age of 41. The nine-time Pro Bowler left his original Ravens team to sign with the Houston Texans back in 2013. He appeared in just seven games with the Texans that season before being released.
Just recently hired by his former Miami Hurricanes’ football program, Reed is now blaming the Texans for his career coming to a “premature” end.
“You actually brought me in, recruited me, and asked me to tell you the things that I’m telling you,” Reed told Bleacher Report recently. “And when I started saying that stuff, they shrugged me off. It was like, ‘Nah, that’s not how we do it.’ So I was lied to. I’m too old to be lied to and I’m too old to play these games with people who say you’ve got to play the game to get higher. I’m not playing the game. I ain’t got time for that. I’ll go do something else.”
Reed went on to conclude that he’d still be playing in the NFL if he had not opted to leave Baltimore for the Texans.
”If I’d have stayed in Baltimore, I’d still be playing today,” Reed continued. “I know so. I had everything going the right way. I had my doctor, training, everything.”
We’re not 100% sure what makes Reed believe he could still be playing in the NFL at 41. No defensive back in the modern history of the game has lasted that long in the league.
Though, he obviously still has issues with the way Houston handled the situation. The team finished the 2013 season with two wins and saw Gary Kubiak fired after 13 games.
Reed ultimately finished that season as a member of the New York Jets, retiring after that short stint.
It’s not too often that we hear an all-time great go on record blasting a former organization in this manner. It will be interesting to see if the Texans have a response or if this is just viewed as water under the bride.