Buffalo Bills’ DB Coach Ed Reed Gets Pranked By Team

Members of the Buffalo Bills had a little bit of fun with their defensive backs coach Ed Reed today, pulling quite the prank.

Let’s be honest. If you had never heard of Ed Reed before he joined the Buffalo Bills‘ coaching staff, then you simply haven’t been following the NFL over the past decade — plus some.

Today, Ed Reed spends his time transferring his talent to the youthful secondary the Buffalo Bills have. He joined the team in mid-January, agreeing to become an assistant defensive backs coach. The announcement came a few days after the Bills announced that Rex Ryan’s twin brother, Rob Ryan, was joining as the team’s assistant head coach/defense.

This isn’t Ed Reed’s first rodeo with the NFL, though.

For those who don’t know — and I’m hoping that number is zero — Ed Reed spent 12 seasons in the NFL as a safety. He wasn’t just any safety, though. He was THE safety of the decade and one of the greatest safeties to ever play the game.

Reed was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens with the 24th overall pick in the 2002 draft (First Round). Playing his college ball at Miami, the Ravens knew right away that Reed was going to be a big contributor right away. I just don’t think they expected him to be that big of a contribution for so long.

In his rookie season with Baltimore, he finished with 85 total tackles, 71 solo tackles, one sack and 12 passes defended.

This is when the stats go crazy.

He also finished with 5 interceptions, 4 stuffs and 2 blocked kicks (punts or field goals). For a rookie, that’s pretty insane. From that point on, he just continued to impress year in and year out.

Over the next two seasons, he combined for 147 tackles, 3 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 16 interceptions, 2 touchdowns, 13 stuffs and 2 blocked kicks (punts or field goals). After three years in the league, he hadn’t missed a single game.

Related Story: Ed Reed Added to PFF's All-Decade Team

His fourth season saw some injury, forcing him to only play 10 games during the 2005 season. It was also the first season Rex Ryan joined the Baltimore Ravens. However, he followed that up with another three straight years of not missing a single game and Rex was a part of all of it. In fact, it was a fairly similar three-year stretch as his first three years — showing that age doesn’t mean a thing.

Over that three-year span, he combined for 140 tackles, one sack, 2 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 21 interceptions, 3 touchdowns, 38 passes defended and 8 stuffs.

His most impressive season very well could’ve been the 2010 season, where injuries forced him to once again miss 6 games out of the season. However, in those 10 games he played in, he managed to get 8 interceptions, just two away from a career-high in a single season. Noted, the two times he grabbed nine interceptions, he played a full season.

His final year in the league, which was the 2013 season, was spent with the Houston Texans for the first half of the season. His stint with the Texans proved to be unproductive, averaging about 8 2 tackles per game and nothing else. After 7 games with the team, he was acquired by the New York Jets — the team Rex Ryan was coaching at the time.

In his final 7 games of his career — spent with Rex — he finished strong and grabbed 3 interceptions and one stuff. It was a nice ending to a fantastic career. Throughout all 12 seasons in the NFL, he finished with 644 tackles, six sacks, 11 forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries, 64 interceptions, 7 touchdowns, 140 passes defended, 32 stuffs and 4 blocked kicks (punts or field goals).

That sounds good enough to be known as one of the greatest of all-time when it comes to safeties, right?

Well, players on the Buffalo Bills’ squad think so, too. They expressed it through a prank they made on Ed Reed — which he walked into on Tuesday.

We all know that when you are calling someone the “greatest of all-time,” they’re often referred to as the “G.O.A.T.” That’s where the pun comes in to play. Here’s a look at the tweet sent out by Ed Reed after the fact.

Let’s see if you get it.

Glad to see the team is having fun and enjoying this four-game win streak they’ve got going on right now. They’ve definitely earned some good laughs.

The Buffalo Bills will have a chance to extend their winning streak to FIVE on Sunday when they travel to play the Miami Dolphins. There’s a lot of injuries that could play a big role in the game. As of right now, it looks like LeSean McCoy MIGHT play — if he does, he wouldn’t be 110% — Marcell Dareus and Robert Woods most likely won’t, but Shaq Lawson will make his NFL debut.

All in all, we still match up good against the Dolphins and will have a good chance at going 5-2.

Go Bills!

Who do you think the G.O.A.T. of the NFL is — throughout all positions? Leave your comments below! I’m stuck between two: Jerry Rice or Lawrence Taylor.