Ed Reed sure is having fun these days.
There was that Super Bowl victory earlier this month with the Baltimore Ravens during which Reed — a career-long terror of a safety – intercepted a Colin Kaepernick pass in the victory against the San Francisco 49ers.
Then there was the work Reed did at the Academy Awards last weekend as a correspondent for the NFL Network where he met George Clooney, Jennifer Hudson, Naomi Watts and Jamie Foxx among others. He wore black with purple accents (Ravens’ colors).
And then he turned up Wednesday afternoon as a celebrity participant in the headline foursome of the Kenny G Gold Pro-Am on the Champion Course ahead of today’s start of the Honda Classic.
OK, so the golf would be the third of those three experiences on Reed’s bucket list, but he still called it “a dream come true” to play with the host saxophonist, television personality Ahmad Rashad and one-time PGA Tour great and Hall of Fame member Raymond Floyd.
It’s a long way from Reed’s introduction to the game as a Louisiana high school football star who didn’t know a bogey from the bogeyman.
“A (physical education) teacher handed out plastic clubs and plastic balls, drew some circles on the ground and told us to have a good time,” Reed recalled. “I wouldn’t say I was hooked right away, but I liked it. The challenge was to stay patient no matter what happened , and that was a good lesson for me to learn in golf and football. It still is.”
The golf proof came on the first hole of Wednesday’s outing when Reed uncorked a wild drive and then hit one of his playing partner’s bags with an errant second shot. There was also a bad chip into a bunker and a lousy putt.
“Who invited this guy?” Reed joked in mocking himself.
But he smoothed long tee shots on the next two holes in looking more like the “handy” 17-handicapper he says he is.
“I’m in the high-80s and low-90s when I get to play as often as I want to,” Reed said. “It’s the beginning of the season for me.”
He didn’t get serious about golf until he was in college, which, of course, was at the University of Miami where Reed was a member of the 2001 national championship team. Somewhere along the way, Hurricanes quarterback Ken Dorsey and tight end Bubba Franks introduced Reed to the benefits of hitting balls at the driving range.
“I still enjoy going,” Reed said.
And he still enjoys football even with 11 violent NFL years on his résumé since the Ravens made him a first-round pick in the NFL draft. He again dismissed rumors that he’ll retire, and seemed to indicate he’s a free agent (his contract expired after last season) only in the technical sense.
“I want to be a Raven,” Reed said. “I am a Raven.”
He’s 34 years old, though, so the next contract won’t be as hefty as the six-year, $44 million one he just finished.
“I’m sure we’ll work something out,” Reed said.
In the meantime, he’ll concentrate on improving his golf game, which had deteriorated on the back nine. Reed, however, took pleasure in hearing New England fans complaining to him much of the round about how the Ravens had eliminated their Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
“They’ve been giving me a hard time,” Reed said, “but I enjoy it. Makes me feel good about what we did.”
He’d like nothing more than to get back to the Super Bowl, with or without New England as a hurdle. But until he gets back onto a football field, Reed said he’ll make it a point to improve his golf game.
“I was nervous on the first tee,” Reed said. “It was a different kind of nervous than football, but it was there. I’d like to get rid of that.”
His dream foursome?
“You gotta give me a fivesome,” he said. “Tiger (Woods), President Obama, Michael Jordan, my Dad and me.”
Sounds like a red-carpet group.
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