Ed Reed: “Heaven must be like this”

Ed Reed pauses and audibly exhales, reflecting on the question and placing himself back at the moment where all things around him stopped.

Thanks in part by Snickers and the return of the “Snickers Hungriest Player” program, Baltimore Beatdown was able to interview Ed Reed on Thursday.

Kyle Barber: “You mentioned playing for that championship. Your final season with the Ravens resulted in you holding that Lombardi Trophy. Thousands of Ravens fans, their favorite sports photo is you, holding that trophy, staring at it with the confetti raining down. Can you describe what you were feeling in that moment?”

Ed Reed: “Man, Heaven must be like this. There’s a song that comes to mind, there’s a feeling that comes to mind, because that’s got to be the ultimate—like walking through the pearly gates. I’m going to say something for you like in the next couple seconds. How do you go from being born in New Orleans to playing in the Superdome the day before—two days before [Hurricane] Katrina hit. The last team to play in the Superdome before Katrina. The first team to play in the Superdome in the Superbowl after Katrina with the Baltimore Ravens. That feeling man, I don’t really think people can really grasp being from a city and going back and playing there. I don’t think I can really describe that much more. It was a blessing man, like no other. If you don’t know nothing about me in this life, just know I’m good. This man played in the Superdome in his backyard. I couldn’t thank God enough. I still can’t. And that’s what that picture was like. Me looking like, ‘Really, this happened.’ And there was so many more factors to it, man, but that was the ultimate feeling. It’s hard to describe that without even getting emotional about it. Cause like I said, there was a lot of factors in that moment.”

It’s abundantly clear as to why we hear Lamar Jackson speak of his near-obsession with winning the Super Bowl if Ed Reed describes it as entering the pearly gates of Heaven.