Mike Silver on Andre Reed HOF

[MaineMoxie]

Edit: as I posted this, several other folks posted something similar.

 

There's more to being in the HOF than gaudy stats. I can't believe that everyone seems to have forgotten how fearless Reed was going over the middle and making catches where no one else would. His YAC was always way up there. He was, hands down, one of the gutsiest receivers with some of the best hands of anyone I've ever seen. When you then factor in his career stats, which were gaudy when he retired, I don't see how he isn't in the HOF already. The league --- and the HOF --- is full of flashy receivers. Reed wasn't flashy. But he was the absolute best at what he did --- catching balls over the middle in traffic. For example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RcIJ2rLMUQ

Edited November 25, 2013 by MaineMoxie

[Prickly Pete]

Agreed. However, Marshall Faulk seems to get the most credit for that. You hear it all the time because he's on one of the NFLNetwork shows and this gets played-up quite often - I'm always yelling back at the TV saying, "What about Thurman!?!?!?"

 

What about Marcus Allen?

I really think it was just a natural evolution of the position that Thurman was a part of.

Edited November 25, 2013 by Marauder'sMicro

[WesDog91]

I remember it all like it was yesterday. A few points of reference...

 

1. 1995 was a contract year for Andre.

 

2. During the preseason, he made it plain that he was unhappy with the front office for not signing him long-term and entering the season with that final year remaining.

 

3. As someone mentioned, he hurt his hammy rather significantly early in the season and sat out much of the rest of the year. Some insiders questioned whether he was doing that to avoid making the injury worse and potentially hurting his chances of getting a big deal upon hitting free agency.

 

4. The defense was very good that year, and Kelly had one of his best seasons (some thought he deserved consideration as MVP, given his surrounding talent at WR with Reed out most of the year). The Bills managed to win the division and hosted the Dolphins in the Wildcard round. The Bills set a then playoff record for rushing against the 'Fins in that game, which would be Shula's last.

 

5. The Bills went into Pittsburgh minus Bruce Smith, who had contracted the flu. Weeks earlier players had been advised to take the flu shot, and Bruce refused saying he had a phobia for needles. Ralph Wilson reportedly had a private jet on stand-by ready to transport Bruce to Pittsburgh in the event he recovered in time. Of course, it didn't happen. The Bills got down multiple scores early. Kelly went down with a collar-bone injury and was shot up with painkillers to get back in the game. He returned in time to cap off a TD scoring drive, which put the Bills within one score early in the 4th quarter. (It was like 26 to 21 at the time.) From there it all went down hill. A pity because, had the Bills won that game they would have had a good shot at going back to the Super Bowl. The Colts had upset the Chiefs on the road and wound up traveling to Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship Game. Had the Bills won, the Colts would have had to go to Buffalo -- and the Bills had beaten the Colts badly in both games that year. (Bills always seemed to own Harbaugh.)

 

6. When the season was over, the team expressed little interest in retaining Andre. So he hit the open market. The Bills instead signed the younger Quinn Early who was coming off a pretty good year in New Orleans. They also invested their first round pick that year o Eric Moulds. Andre received very little interest on the open market. At the time he was over 30, coming off the injury that was either severe -- or one that Andre had milked (given his lengthy time out and perception). At some point Kelly went to John Butler and asked him why he had not made any effort to re-sign Andre, and Butler told him the Bills were interested but the phone works both ways. So Kelly and a couple of other teammates (may have been Thurman and Bruce, but I do not remember) called Andre and told him they wanted him back. Eventually Reed and the Bills did indeed work out a new contract.

 

7. The 1996 season was filled with promise with Reed re-signed and now Early on the team as well. However, Kelly seemingly got older overnight and the OL struggled to protect him. Reed was actually one of the bright spots that year. He started it off with a strong performance in an overtime victory over the Giants. He made it very clear that the injury issues in 1995 were behind him -- and I believe he was hurt by the suggestions that the hammy injury was not as severe as he made it out to be.

 

8. By the time the Flutie era began in 1998, Reed was starting to play second fiddle to Moulds. Clearly Moulds and Flutie had a connection -- and Reed was the odd man out. When he left after the 1999 season, he had less than kind things to say about Flutie and other members of the Bills organization.

 

Andre has always had a bit of a surly attitude. I don't think he is a bad guy, just doesn't like talking to the press and always seems to have a chip on his shoulder. Contrast that with Cris Carter, who always loves to tell "his story".

 

I think Andre Reed is a Hall of Famer. He was the to receiver for a high-powered offense, who played the thankless slot role and played in less than ideal weather conditions. Thus, his catch totals were great -- but his TD and yardage totals weren't.

 

He was an important factor in multiple playoff games. Who can forget those sliding catches he made in the snow against Miami in the 1990 Divisional round? Or the all time performance in the Comeback Game with multiple TDs? He was not horrible in the Super Bowls, compared to some of his teammates. Parcell and Belichick game-planned for him specifically in Super Bowl XXV. They knew they couldn't stop him, but instead believed the best thing was to prevent the YAC and punish him when he caught the ball. The plan worked. By the 2nd quarter, Andre started hearing footsteps... He did have two very crucial drops on the series after the safety. The Bills were ahead then 12-3 and had all the momentum. One drop was a great play by the defender, hitting him hard right after the ball arrived. The other was a simple drop. He catches that, and the Bills likely wind up with at least a field goal if not a TD...

 

Wish more HOF voters would watch the Comeback Game and not the Super Bowls...

 

Oh, and how many Super Bowls did Cris Carter and Tim Brown help lead their team to? TO? Randy Moss? Reed may have been 0-4, but these other guys only ever went there 2 times total among them all. Both losses.

 

It's almost painful for me to think back on '95 and wonder if the Bills could have wound up playing yet another Super Bowl against the Cowboys. Our defense was much improved that year, but it seemed like a long shot that we would be able to beat them on the third try.

[Buftex]

What about Marcus Allen?

I really think it was just a natural evolution of the position that Thurman was a part of.

 

What about Roger Craig? Joe Cribbs?

Edited December 5, 2013 by Buftex

[Never NEVER Give-up]

We're talking HOF'ers, not hall of the good/very good.

[bmur66]

Andre is on my HOF team. He was clutch. Didn't he invent YAC? I wish I could find a clip from the game where he broke about 6 tackles and scored.