The Baltimore Ravens will be in for a drastic change at season’s end with longtime linebacker and arguably the heart and soul of the team in Ray Lewis calling it a career after 17 years in the NFL.
While Lewis has dominated the Ravens’ headlines over the past week or so, another defensive superstar for Baltimore has taken a backseat in terms of retirement talk. It has been speculated for the past few years that safety Ed Reed has been seriously considering retirement with injuries and the NFL’s new rules changing his style of play being motivating factors for walking away from the game.
Although retiring with his longtime teammate seems to be poetic in a way, Reed isn’t thinking about retirement at this point in time according to Edward Lee of The Baltimore Sun:
“I’m not thinking about that right now,” Reed said. “I’m football. I’m completing this year, and like I always tell you, I assess it every year. I assess myself every year physically. A guy in football, if he doesn’t do that, something’s wrong. So I’m not worried about that. I’m not focused on that. Right now, it’s playoffs, it’s Denver, it’s football.”
Reed is clearly motivated moving forward with his sights set on winning a Super Bowl title with the Ravens. Even though the Denver Broncos are his primary concern right now with the team potentially two games away from an appearance in the Super Bowl, retirement might become a desirable option if the team fails to get to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome or if they ultimately have what it takes to win it all.
Reed’s true intentions and thoughts on retirement will be revealed once the season is officially over for the Ravens regardless of the outcome in the playoffs. The veteran safety may go either way with retirement or playing another year or two realistic possibilities.
