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. 

Jameel McClain 
As told to Glenn Clark Radio

Jameel McClain was a linebacker for the Ravens from 2008-2013.

When I came into the NFL, Ed was one of those people along my journey — and still along my journey — that you could always just count on to get good advice, to get good counsel and to get direction. When I was coming in, Ed really just educated me on the importance of taking care of my body, something that some people may think is simple, but he just would make a simple comparison. “Well, you’ll spend this amount of money on something. Why not spend that amount of money on your body, something that will give you more longevity and help you out in your professional career?”

That was who Ed was as a person and just getting honest opinions from Ed — and I say honest because people need to understand Ed is not going to give it to you so it makes you feel good. He’s just going to give it to you and you take it, and once you take it, you’ll accept it and be happy that you received it the way that he gave it to you.

Great guy, man. I doubt there’ll be anyone in the world who can say one bad thing about Ed.

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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