DONtheGREAT23
01-09-2005, 07:39 PM
Ed Reed spent much of 2004 getting his hands on the football.
Thanks to his nine interceptions and two defensive touchdowns, the standout safety put his fingerprints on some hardware Friday.
Reed was named by the Associated Press as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the second Raven in as many years to win the award. Ray Lewis took home the honor in both 2004 and 2000.
“The fact that Ray [and I] trained together, and talked about it, him being there for a long time and knowing that you can get to this level on discipline and focus on what you need to do, he pretty much walked me to it,” Reed told reporters via conference call Friday.. “He was giving up his time to me. There are certain things that he taught me, over time. This last offseason, being able to work out with him, and being able to achieve something as a team, for me to achieve the award and him to have done it already, it’s truly an honor to be among such great names that achieved this before our time.”
Reed broke team and league records in 2005. His nine interceptions are the most in a season by any player in Ravens history, and his 21 career picks are also a team record.
On the final game of the season, Reed returned an interception 41 yards, and in turn, broke the NFL mark for interception return yards in the season. Reed tallied 358 such yards, which were more than 26 NFL teams.
“It wasn’t just two or three offseasons that put this together,” Reed said. “It’s a lot of things over time that drove me to get to this point. My game has truly been consistent. It’s just being recognized over a matter of time. It’s going to be a lot of people that are truly happy that I won this award.”
For a while, it seemed that Reed was going to make a game-changing play every week.
In the victory over the Redskins (10/10), he forced and recovered a fumble that he returned for a touchdown.
The third-year safety then made a game-saving pick in the end zone at the end of the Browns game (11/7), which he returned an NFL-record 106 yards for a score.
Another interception for a touchdown against the Jets (11/14) was negated by a holding penalty.
"He deserves it," Lewis said. "He prepares like a coach. He loves to play, period. He brings joy to work. He's tough and smart."
Reed, the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Month for November, and Lewis were also both named to the AP’s All-Pro team, while tackle Jonathan Ogden and cornerback Chris McAlister were second-teamers.
Elsewhere, Will Demps and Ed Hartwell were named to Daryl Johnston’s All-Lunch Pail Crew.
reed definitely deserved this one
Thanks to his nine interceptions and two defensive touchdowns, the standout safety put his fingerprints on some hardware Friday.
Reed was named by the Associated Press as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the second Raven in as many years to win the award. Ray Lewis took home the honor in both 2004 and 2000.
“The fact that Ray [and I] trained together, and talked about it, him being there for a long time and knowing that you can get to this level on discipline and focus on what you need to do, he pretty much walked me to it,” Reed told reporters via conference call Friday.. “He was giving up his time to me. There are certain things that he taught me, over time. This last offseason, being able to work out with him, and being able to achieve something as a team, for me to achieve the award and him to have done it already, it’s truly an honor to be among such great names that achieved this before our time.”
Reed broke team and league records in 2005. His nine interceptions are the most in a season by any player in Ravens history, and his 21 career picks are also a team record.
On the final game of the season, Reed returned an interception 41 yards, and in turn, broke the NFL mark for interception return yards in the season. Reed tallied 358 such yards, which were more than 26 NFL teams.
“It wasn’t just two or three offseasons that put this together,” Reed said. “It’s a lot of things over time that drove me to get to this point. My game has truly been consistent. It’s just being recognized over a matter of time. It’s going to be a lot of people that are truly happy that I won this award.”
For a while, it seemed that Reed was going to make a game-changing play every week.
In the victory over the Redskins (10/10), he forced and recovered a fumble that he returned for a touchdown.
The third-year safety then made a game-saving pick in the end zone at the end of the Browns game (11/7), which he returned an NFL-record 106 yards for a score.
Another interception for a touchdown against the Jets (11/14) was negated by a holding penalty.
"He deserves it," Lewis said. "He prepares like a coach. He loves to play, period. He brings joy to work. He's tough and smart."
Reed, the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Month for November, and Lewis were also both named to the AP’s All-Pro team, while tackle Jonathan Ogden and cornerback Chris McAlister were second-teamers.
Elsewhere, Will Demps and Ed Hartwell were named to Daryl Johnston’s All-Lunch Pail Crew.
reed definitely deserved this one