Even Hall of Fame players aren’t always perfect in the eyes of their respective fanbases. Nearly every NFL player will hear the boo-birds come for them at some point. That was the case for Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, who said he was booed by fans for a pretty innocent mistake.
In an interview with Justin Melo of Draft Wire, Reed recalled the time he was practically booed off the stage at a fan event during his rookie season. According to Reed, it was all because he was wearing a Jim Brown jersey. It just so happens Brown played for the Cleveland Browns, a Baltimore rival.
It happened during my rookie year (laughs). I had just gotten drafted by Baltimore. We had a little meet and greet event for the rookies. I walked on stage and everybody starts immediately looking at me. I think they were trying to figure out who I was. Everybody was just starring at me. Nobody was even saying anything at this point.
They weren’t even looking at me, personally. They were looking right at the jersey (laughs). I eventually figured that out when they introduced me and brought me up on stage.
‘Here’s our rookie, Ed Reed.’ I walk on stage and they’re booing me! ‘BOOO! Take it off!’ (laughs). I’m thinking, ‘Man, it’s Jim Brown!’ (laughs). It’s not even a Cleveland jersey, it’s a Jim Brown jersey before it’s a Cleveland jersey.
While an innocent mistake, it’s one Reed probably should have realized before walking on stage. The Ravens were once the Cleveland Browns, moving to Baltimore thanks to owner Art Modell in 1996. Despite being drafted in 2002, there was still plenty of animosity between the fanbases over the move, even beyond both teams playing in the same division.
Still, Reed took the verbal bashing in stride, classifying it as his “welcome to the NFL moment.” It ended up being just a small blip on what was a Hall of Fame career for Reed and something we can all chuckle about today.
Check out the rest of Draft Wire’s interview with Reed. There are juicy tidbits about his thoughts on current NFL safeties, which college had the greatest secondary in history, and so much more.
