As Ed Reed prepares to take his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, teammates, friends and coaches from his Ravens, college and high school years reflect on the legacy of the legendary Ravens safety with their favorite memories and never-before-heard stories. 

Gus Johnson
As told to Glenn Clark
Prior to his current role with Fox Sports, Gus Johnson was a play-by-play voice for CBS, and one of his duties was calling NFL games.

When Ed Reed walked in the room, you knew who was in charge, and he didn’t even have to say very much. He had a quiet disposition about him. He had an intensity, but an engaging personality, a beautiful , beautiful smile, but you understood that the person that was sitting in front of you was an M-A-N; grown man; cerebral man; athletic, violent man. I used to love to be able to talk to Ed Reed, man. Think about it like this, this is why I loved the Ravens back then so much, because I did a lot of Ravens games. I did some classic Ravens games. Remember in the day, Baltimore vs. Jacksonville? Baltimore vs. Tennessee?

I have very fond memories of calling games in Baltimore or being associated with the Ravens in some of those classic matchups with guys like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. You talk about Ed, Peter Boulware, Mike McCrary — he was sweet — and Jamal at running back. Man, it was a wonderful time, it’s a wonderful organization. It’s an incredible, passionate, loyal fan base, and the stadium is spectacular downtown. It’s an event when you go to a Ravens game.

To read more memories of No. 20, visit PressBoxOnline.com/Reed.

Photo Credit: Sabina Moran/PressBox 

Issue 255: June/July 2019

PressBox

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