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Maybe this is the best way to sum up the wonder of Ed Reed: In 2004, when facing the Cleveland Browns, he set an NFL record by reaching down, picking off a deflected Jeff Garcia pass, and returning it 106 yards for a touchdown. It’s one of the funniest and most ridiculous things in the mathematical world that the NFL counts end zone yards when talking about kickoff and punt and interception returns. But I love it.

“I really saw it the whole way,” Reed said. He was speaking of the interception and the open space in front of him after he made it … but he could have been talking about his entire career. Nobody saw the field like Ed Reed. But we’ll get back to that.

We’re still not done with the record-breaking interception story.

Four years later, in 2008, Reed and the Ravens were playing at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Reed intercepted the Eagles’ starter, Donovan McNabb, early in the game. Then with the game getting out of hand, the Eagles put in backup Kevin Kolb. And Reed felt joy surge through him.

“You could say our antennae went up,” he would say.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles moved the ball to the Baltimore four. And then Kolb tried to connect with a receiver in the back of the end zone, but his pass was lazy and Ed Reed stepped in front and picked it off. Then he was off, running, out of the end zone, and Kolb met him at the 20-yard line. Reed, who was an electrifying punt returner when the Ravens really needed him, cut inside and broke free.

Brian Westbrook had him at the 30-yard line, but Reed stopped and then started up again, throwing Westbrook off-balance and sprinting by. Offensive lineman Todd Herremans seemed to be closing in on Reed at the 50 and he dove for his feet, but Reed ran away from him. Tight end Brent Celek chased Reed down at the 23 or so, but Reed cut left and Celek felt helplessly to the ground.

That left only Reed and tight end L.J. Smith — and the two did a sort of dance for those final 20 or so yards, with Reed staying just out of reach as he jogged into the end zone.

That was a 107-yard interception return. He’d broken his own record by one yard.

Those are still the longest two interception returns in NFL history. And they probably always be. And if that’s the only fact you know about Ed Reed’s NFL career, well, it pretty much gets the point across. Ed Reed was the most dynamic safety the game has ever known. His entire career was like one giant big play.

Icon Sports Wire//Getty Images

Reed returning an interception in a playoff game in 2009. He intercepted 64 passes in his career, seventh all-time and the most in the 21st century.

Reed’s ability to make big plays was exactly why the Baltimore Ravens drafted him out of the University of Miami in the first place. There was apparently some question about his size and speed and hitting ability.

Ravens’ senior vice president Ozzie Newsome didn’t give any of that a second thought.

“The thing that really sold me on him,” Newsome said on the draft day, “is that every time you watched Miami’s defense and they needed a play to be made, Ed Reed made that play.”

I always like it when football people talk that way. It tells you that there are mysteries in the game, things that even the smartest football people might not fully understand. Newsome couldn’t fully explain WHY Ed Reed always made the play and, for the most part, he wasn’t even that interested in the answer. Maybe he ran a 4.57 40-yard dash, but on the field, he always seemed fast enough to knock down the pass, get to the quarterback or return the interception for a touchdown. Maybe he couldn’t bench an impressive amount of weight, but on the field, he always seemed to fight off or elude the blocker and make the tackle.

In Reed’s case, the numbers tell the story. He intercepted 64 passes in his career, seventh all-time and most in the 21st century. He has 1,590 interception return yards, most in NFL history. He has scored touchdowns on interceptions, on punt returns, on a strip sack and fumble return and on a regular old fumble return. He recorded a safety, too.

He studied like he was the team’s quarterback.

He was the guy every quarterback spotlighted in their preparation. NFL Films picked up people on the sidelines all the time talking about Reed.

“I want you to keep an eye on Ed Reed today,” Tom Brady said.

“You see Ed come across?” Chad Ochocinco said to his quarterback, Carson Palmer.

“You’ve got to be aware of Ed Reed,” Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman warned Tony Romo.

So how did Reed do it? Well, for one thing, he simply out-prepared everybody. He spent countless hours studying film. In a sport built on preparation, teammates say Reed stood out. He studied like he was the team’s quarterback.

Then, he simply had an instinct for the moment. “He may have run the 40 in 4.57,” football historian Bryan Frye wrote, “but he played at 4.2.”

And he had faith. This was literally true — religious faith has been a big part of his life, and he used to read The Athlete’s Prayer before every game:

Lord, please clear my head of all distractions,

And my heart of burdens I may bear,

So I may perform my very best,

Knowing You'll always be there.

Please lift me up before the moment,

So through Your eyes I may see,

And have a clearer understanding,

As the game unfolds before me.

With great courage I will meet this challenge,

As You would have me to,

But keep me humble and remind me,

That my strength comes from knowing You.

Then when all eyes are upon me,

At the end of this game,

I will return their eyes to You, Oh, Lord,

And to the glory of Your Name.

Amen.

But he also had complete and utter faith in himself and his preparation and his ability to make a difference in the game. That’s why he made so many big plays. That’s why he returned two interceptions 106 and 107 yards. He left the end zone knowing in his heart that it would turn out all right.

Joe Posnanski has been named the best sportswriter in America by five different organizations, including the Sports Media Hall of Fame and the Associated Press Sports Editors. He has also won two Sports Emmy Awards. He is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of six books, and he co-hosts the PosCast with television writer and creator Michael Schur.  

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