Ed Reed decided to not wear his Hall of Fame polo shirt at the Hall of Fame game on Thursday night. Instead, he went with something that sends a stronger message. When Reed was introduced to the fans at the NFL‘s first preseason game of the year, he was seen wearing a shirt of people who died during interactions with police.
Wow. Ed Reed’s shirt. Amazing. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/sYkAsrXSKG
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) August 2, 2019
The shirt included photos of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Travon Martin who was shot in killed in 2012 while walking in a Florida neighborhood unarmed. While he was interviewed by Michelle Tafoya during the game, the shirt was never brought up in the discussion.
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Yahoo Sports reports what Reed did is similar to what Randy Moss did during the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony last year as it was seen on his tie, Moss stitched in the names of 12 victims of police violence.
“What I wanted to be able to express with my tie is to let these families know they’re not alone,” Moss said last August. “By these names on my tie and a big platform as the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there’s a lot of stuff going on in our country. I just want to let these family members know that they’re not alone.”
This all goes back to what former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick did in 2016 when he began to kneel during the national anthem. When asked about it at the time, Kaepernick said he wanted to raise awareness with police brutality.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview at the time. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Reed was one of the best safeties to play in the NFL. He spent time with the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans and New York Jets and he was named to the Pro Bowl nine times while being selected to the All-Pro Team eight times. Reed helped the Ravens win a Super Bowl in 2012 and he was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2004.
