Bruce, Andre and Ralph make the HOF cut

[KRC]

I just don't see his playoff contention (with the exception of the Houston comeback game where he had an unbelievably good day which would go a long way in the considerations). as being all that good. Against the Giants he was not effective once Lofton was shut down and made a number of bizarre drops, the Miami playoff game the Redskins game were lost in great part because of his dumb penalties. I think Kiet Joyner had a pretty good analysis in the URL posted above.

 

... Lot of stuff...

 

Here is the original article that TB was referring to here.

[34-78-83]

I just don't see his playoff contention (with the exception of the Houston comeback game where he had an unbelievably good day which would go a long way in the considerations). as being all that good. Against the Giants he was not effective once Lofton was shut down and made a number of bizarre drops, the Miami playoff game the Redskins game were lost in great part because of his dumb penalties. I think Kiet Joyner had a pretty good analysis in the URL posted above.

 

"Let's examine Andre Reed.

1) Was he ever regarded as the best player in football?

This is a very high standard, to be sure, but no, I don't think anyone has ever suggested it.

2) Was he the best player on his team?

Andre Reed would be considered one of the best players on his team, but I don't think he would be considered the best. Bruce Smith is thought to be one of the finest defensive linemen of all time, Thurman Thomas is one of the two or three best running backs of his era, and Jim Kelly was one of the best quarterbacks in football. Andre would probably have to be ranked fourth by this measurement.

3) Was he the best player in his conference at his position?

4) Was he the best player in football at his position?

I decided to answer these questions concurrently. Andre Reed has never been considered the best receiver of his era, what with competing directly with Jerry Rice. To decide the race for second best receiver of this era, I decided to look at the All-Pro teams. The Professional Football Writers Association of America and the Associated Press vote for All-Pro teams every year. These teams are supposed to represent the best players at their position. Two wide receivers are named on each team. Jerry Rice, whose career started at the same time as Reed's did, has been named All-Pro in every year except two. This leaves only one All-Pro slot per year for most of the years that Reed played in. Andre Reed has only been voted to an All-Pro team once, during the 1989 season.

The best receivers of Reed's era (1985-1997) are generally considered to be Rice, Michael Irvin, Sterling Sharpe, Andre Rison, Mark Clayton, Mark Duper, Tim Brown, Art Monk, Steve Largent, Cris Carter, Herman Moore, and Reed himself With the exceptions of Largent, Duper, Clayton, Brown, and Reed, all of these receivers are NFC receivers, and most of these receivers were the All-Pro receivers during Reed's career As such, it would seem that the NFC had the better receivers. That being the case, you could probably make an argument for Reed being the AFC's best receiver of that era. With Duper, Clayton, Brown, Largent, Haywood Jeffires, Ernest Givins, and Anthony Miller as his chief competition, you would probably find that Reed ranks as good, or better, year in and year out. He was voted as the AFC Pro Bowl starter four times and voted in as a backup three other times in his 13 seasons, and no one else in the conference comes close to that. For the honor of the best receiver in the AFC over the last 13 seasons, Andre Reed gets my vote.

2

THE COFFIN CORNER: Vol. 19, No. 5 (1997)

5) Did he have an impact on any playoff or playoff caliber games?

Andre Reed made a number of large contributions in big games for the Bills. He was an integral part of Buffalo's comeback vs. Houston in the 1994 AFC Wildcard game. He caught two touchdown passes in a 1991 AFC Divisional playoff game against the Chiefs. He also had a big game against Miami during the 1995 season that helped clinch a playoff spot for the Bills. The overriding memories I have of Andre Reed in the postseason, though, are in Super Bowls XXV and XXVI. In Super Bowl XXVI, Reed disagreed with an official's call, got mad, and tossed his helmet down in anger. This was pointed out to the official by one of the Redskins' players, and it cost Buffalo a 15-yard penalty. The penalty knocked the Bills out of field goal range at a point in the game where a field goal could have helped swing the momentum toward the Bills.

In Super Bowl XXV, the Giants defensive game plan was to stop the big play, and force the Bills offense to put together a drive in order to score. They were very successful in achieving this. The Bills that year had James Lofton as their deep threat. Lofton's repertoire of pass patterns consisted of a go pattern and a deep out. The Giants took away the deep out pattern all game, and the Bills hit the go pattern successfully only once. On that play Lofton was covered, but the defender was only able to knock the ball into the air, where Lofton caught it on a rebound.

Lofton finished with one catch for 61 yards. This left two other options in the Bills receiving corps. Andre Reed and Keith McKeller, the Bills tight end. McKeIler was a pedestrian receiver, so therefore Reed had to be the focal point of the Bills passing game. Through the first quarter and part of the second, Reed performed admirably, catching passes over the middle and keeping the Bills drives alive. In the second quarter, Reed caught a pass on a crossing route. He evaded one tackler, then was nailed by another. Reed struggled to his feet, and after the game said he had never been hit harder. It showed. Reed was still the focal point of the passing game, but he dropped three key passes throughout the rest of the game, two on 3rd down when the Bills needed the catch to keep the drive alive. He short armed balls in order to protect his ribs from the Giant defenders. It is my feeling that when the Bills offense needed him the most, Andre Reed, the man who once appeared in a magazine ad stating "You're going to get hit either way, so you might as well catch the ball," did not do so. The Bills offense refocused its attack with Thurman Thomas at the center, but was unable to overcome the loss of their entire passing attack, and lost 20-19.

6) If he retired today, would he be the best player in football not in the Hall of Fame?

By my estimation, there are many players who were held in higher esteem during their era than Andre Reed is held in his. Dwight Stevenson was the Gale Sayers of offensive linemen, a man who only played six years but made such an impact that he is considered one of the best linemen ever. Ray Guy was the best punter ever, with the possible exception of Sammy Baugh, and is the only pure punter to ever garner any serious Hall of Fame consideration. Mick Tingelhoff was voted All-Pro for seven straight years in the 60's, five of which were unanimous selections. Del Shofner was voted All-Pro unanimously five times in six years. Benny Friedman was the best passer of the 20's and has been kept out of the Hall due to issues other than on field accomplishments. All of these players were considered to be by far the best at their positions at some point during their careers. Andre Reed has not been considered to be the best during his career, and as such would not rank ahead of any of these men.

7) Are most players with comparable stats at his position in the Hall of Fame?

Andre Reed's career total for reception and yardage points is 1009. He is thus currently tied for 27th all time. This places him in the company of receivers such as Haven Moses, John Stallworth, Reggie Rucker, Wes Chandler, and Ken Burrough, with whom he is tied. It puts him just ahead of Elroy Hirsch, John Gilliam, Carroll Dale, Gene Washington, and Dante Lavelli. Ofall of the receivers just mentioned, only Hirsch and Lavelli are in the Hall of Fame, and one could argue that they were inducted more for being one of the great receivers of their eras than for their c"

 

It's a lot simpler than all that to me. In the "Reed era" which could be considered '87 to '93 or his "prime years", it was all about Rice in the NFC and Reed in the AFC. Most football fans that were of age at that time all recognized this. And being at every one of those home playoff games really nailed it down that he was a superior receiver. I will not waste any time worrying about a guy who spent his prime years playing in a dome, or some other guy in a run and shoot offense. I look at players and how they play on the field 1st and foremost and it was obvious that he was elite by simply watching the guy play. Run after catch wasn't even a term til he and Rice made it something. Rice even claimed one year that Andre was the best receiver in football.

[Adam]

It's a lot simpler than all that to me. In the "Reed era" which could be considered '87 to '93 or his "prime years", it was all about Rice in the NFC and Reed in the AFC. Most football fans that were of age at that time all recognized this. And being at every one of those home playoff games really nailed it down that he was a superior receiver. I will not waste any time worrying about a guy who spent his prime years playing in a dome, or some other guy in a run and shoot offense. I look at players and how they play on the field 1st and foremost and it was obvious that he was elite by simply watching the guy play. Run after catch wasn't even a term til he and Rice made it something. Rice even claimed one year that Andre was the best receiver in football.

Jerry Rice called Reed the best over the middle WR he ever saw

[stuckincincy]

Jerry Rice called Reed the best over the middle WR he ever saw

 

Well, that was very gracious of him.

 

Unlike Reed, who chose to MF folks on his way out. IMO - his mouthing isn't forgotten, to his self-inflicted detriment.

[Adam]

Well, that was very gracious of him.

 

Unlike Reed, who chose to MF folks on his way out. IMO - his mouthing isn't forgotten, to his self-inflicted detriment.

Yep, things were already going downhill in the organization and Reed knew it

[tennesseeboy]

Jerry Rice called Reed the best over the middle WR he ever saw

You may be right. I don't see him getting in, and suspect Carter will be the choice. He won some impossible games for us (Houston definitely was primarily Andre Reed and Frank Reich)...but he cost us some big ones. Hope I'm wrong as I always like to see bills get inducted. Far better than Bills getting indicted! (OJ and KO?)

[JPDontletthedoorhityourars]

Reed did go 'cross the middle.......once. And man, did Pepper Johnson make him pay for doing so! The next time he ran that route, he did the ol' alligator arms bit, for which it took me a long time to forgive him.

 

 

Well, to be honest...Parcells said later in an interview that Reed was the focus of the gameplan...not TT. They felt if they could take Andre out of the game they could live with TT running wild. It looked like he was right...as usual! Don't blame Andre as much as the the 2-3-6 defense Parcells/Bellicheat installed. The fact is Kelly should have run the ball more rather than having his ego throwing into that defense.