 Reed kicks a field goal in 2008. |
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| No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| Kicker | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: April 9, 1979 | |
| Place of birth: Charlotte, North Carolina | |
| Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | Weight: 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: North Carolina | |
| Undrafted in 2002 | |
| Debuted in 2002 for the Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| Career history | |
As player:
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 14, 2009 | |
| Field Goals Made | 180 |
| Field Goals Attempted | 218 |
| Field Goal % | 82.6% |
| Long Field Goal | 53 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Jeff Reed (born April 9, 1979) is an American football placekicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at North Carolina.
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Early years
Reed graduated from East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1997. While there, Reed was captain of the soccer team and kicker for the football team. He was a letterman in both sports. His senior year the soccer team went to the state finals but lost, 2-1. During his senior year, Reed kicked a 54-yard field goal, the second longest in North Carolina history, against Providence High School, setting a new school record. In football, he won All-Conference and All-County honors.
Reed was involved in the school newspaper, National Honor Society, and the Spanish National Honor Society. He graduated 9th in his class out of 365.
In the Spring of 2005 he was added to the East Mecklenburg Wall of Fame.
College career
Reed attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he majored in journalism and played college football. He had never kicked in a college game until the 2000 season, but he emerged as one of the most consistent kickers (and punter) in the country. He was an honorable mention All-ACC pick as a senior and a second-team All-ACC player as a junior. He entered the 2000 season as a walk-on, but he earned a scholarship after connecting on 28-of-36 field goal attempts and 66-of-67, setting a UNC record with 66 consecutive extra points. He was one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top kicker. Reed was first-team Academic All-ACC.
While at UNC, Reed was teammates with running back Willie Parker, his future teammate with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Professional career
Pittsburgh Steelers
After an unsuccessful tryout with the New Orleans Saints during the 2002 preseason, Reed joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent during the regular season. Originally signed as a midseason replacement to the injured Todd Peterson, Reed quickly contributed to the team, finishing the season with 100 points, which led to the team releasing Peterson in the offseason and making Reed their primary kicker.
During the Steelers 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New York Jets, Reed kicked a 33-yard field goal in overtime after his New York counterpart Doug Brien missed two field goals. During the 2005-06 NFL playoffs, where the Steelers eventually won Super Bowl XL, Reed successfully kicked all three field goal attempts and converted all fourteen of his potential PATs. Reed's streak of 189 consecutive successful PAT's (210 including post-seasons), dating back to the Steelers' week 16 victory over the Chargers in 2003, came to an end on Monday November 3, 2008, against the Washington Redskins.[1][2]
During Super Bowl XLIII,Reed went 2-for-2 on field goals and 3-for-3 on PAT's in the Steelers 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Reed is the second-highest scoring Steeler. His 733 points trails Gary Anderson's 1,343.[3]
Personal life
Reed's father, Morris, played basketball for Wichita State and his mother, Pam, was a cheerleader for Wichita State. His sister, Kristen, played soccer at UNC Charlotte and one year professionally for the Carolina Speed.
Reed does charity work with “Kick For Kids,” which donates $300 for every field goal he makes. Reed is involved in Junior Achievement, does commercials for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and helped a family raise money for a 5-year-old who had a brain tumor.[4]
Reed is known to be eccentric.[5] This has included instances of Reed bleaching his hair and letting it grow out, as well as wearing fuchsia clothing to match his girlfriend's outfit for the team's annual fashion show to raise money for breast cancer awareness.[6] One year for training camp, Reed voluntarily carried around a pink backpack since the team had no rookies on special teams, who would usually carry around the backpack.[7]
Reed can frequently be seen in section C27 of Pittsburgh Penguins games. After the Steelers' win in Super Bowl XLIII, Reed dropped the ceremonial first puck at the Penguins-Tampa Bay Lightning game on February 4, 2009[8]; for the occasion, he wore a rare gold throwback Sunday Mario Lemieux jersey from the 1980s.
Reed was cited by police on the night of February 14, 2009, for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief for destroying a paper towel holder in a bathroom at a Sheetz convenience store in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania.[9] Reed was reportedly angry that the men's restroom was out of paper towels. He pleaded guilty to the two summary offenses and was fined $543.50.[10]
Reed was cited again for public intoxication related charges on October 18th, 2009, hours after the team defeated the Cleveland Browns, and later apologized to his team for his conduct.[11]
References
- ^ http://www.nfl.com/players/jeffreed/profile?id=REE265822
- ^ http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=26552&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&season=2003&week=REG16
- ^ Bouchette, Ed (29 December 2008). "Steelers Notebook: Pass-happy Hines Ward makes his 800th catch". Quick hits (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08364/938287-66.stm. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
- ^ Steelers Q&A with Jeff Reed
- ^ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_609208.html?source=rss&feed=9
- ^ http://steelers.com/article/111812/
- ^ http://www.wpxi.com/news/20236340/detail.html
- ^ Reed drops the puck at Pens game
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3907738
- ^ Steelers' Reed Pleads Guilty Convenience Store Charges SI.com, February 20, 2009
- ^ Steelers Kicker Reed Cited For Alleged Public IntoxicationAHN, October 19, 2009
External links
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