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. 

Monte Sanders 
As told to Glenn Clark
The CEO and founder of M.B.S. Fitness Lab, Monte Sanders trained Ed Reed and Ray Lewis.

I guess I’ll start with the very first time I met Ed. We were at Ray’s house and he came in. Of course, Ray was excited that they had drafted a Hurricane and was excited about him having almost like a new Rod Woodson playing behind him. And Ed walked in. Here comes this guy, he’s got his dreadlocks and he’s from the University of Miami. The first thing out of his mouth was, “I want to learn everything.” We kind of all looked at each other and he was like, “I want to be sponge. I want to know every single thing that you do, what you eat, how you prepare.”

Ed has a teachable spirit, and that is so important because Ed was already a champion. Ed was already a leader of men at the University of Miami when they won the national championship. So for him to come in that first day that I met him and to see that humble side of him and to be willing to somewhat unlearn and relearn some things and to be mentored under Ray’s tutelage was very humbling.

We would have bets going on with the “Madden” games, playing the “Madden” football game, and you would just find Ed in between certain workouts when we were supposed to be asleep. You would just hear him in there practicing and going over different plays [and] how he could win the next time all of us got together. 

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

Photo Credit: Sabina Moran/PressBox 

Issue 255: June/July 2019

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