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Having won a job, Reed is ready to compete to keep it May 12, 2003 PITTSBURGH - Last year, Jeff Reed did it all. Won a job in the National Football League. Conquered Heinz Field. Won the confidence of Coach Bill Cowher. Endeared himself to even the most cynical of Steelers fans. One could make the point that Jeff Reed has arrived. Just one thing: he doesn't see it that way. Jeff Reed went from unemployed to the Steelers kicker to a fan favorite after he converted 17-of-19 field goals over the final six games on the 2002 season. "The job is mine right now, but you have to perform all the time," said Reed. "You can’t ever slip up, and if you do you have to pick yourself up real quick. Job security in the NFL? There really is no job security. I don’t care, from the biggest names to a kicker, production is the biggest part of your job." The job of Steelers placekicker belongs to Reed right now because of the very production he talks about. He may have started out as a nobody from nowhere, but Reed quickly established himself by making 17-of-19 field goals over the final six games of the regular season, including an impressive 10-of-12 at Heinz Field. Adding in the two games in the playoffs, Reed was 20-of-24, and he was doing it in November, December and January in the Northeast. On a cold, wet, raw Tuesday afternoon at Heinz Field, Reed emerged from a field of four contenders to win a job that came open because Todd Peterson had made just 12-of-21 field goals to go along with his short kickoffs. Peterson injuring his ribs on the Sunday before this midseason tryout just made Cowher's decision simpler. But if Cowher's decision to pull the plug on Peterson was an easy one, the choice among the four contenders for the job on that Tuesday afternoon wasn't. Cowher identified Reed as the best that day, and he later said he really couldn't put his finger on the reason why he thought that. Special teams coach Kevin Spencer once said of that whole process, "To find (Reed) that way, to go out on a crappy day at Heinz Field with four knuckleheads and come out with a kid who could be a 10-12 year kicker in this league … that only happens once in a coaching career." To sum it all up in one word. Lucky. "I look at it as deserving but lucky," said Reed. "The lucky part comes from the fact there are 500 kickers who want to play at this level. There’s 32 who actually play every week. I just got an opportunity to play eight games last year, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I just want a chance to prove myself. Everyone has said to me, ‘You proved yourself, just continue.’ But the way I look at it is it’s week-to-week, especially the position I’m in. You have to show up for all the minicamps, everything. You can’t have a bad minicamp and expect them to tell you, 'That’s all right.' That’s the way I see it. "I went through so many trials before I got here, and my attitude was to keep plugging because it’s going to come. When I got here and they told me I was starting (the next) Sunday, it just kind of blew my mind." One year ago today, Reed was an undrafted rookie trying to make the New Orleans Saints roster. He was attending rookie minicamps, working out at the team's facility, and above all, he was hoping. Today, he's the incumbent, and a guy named Jonathan Ruffin is what Reed once was. Ruffin was signed by the Steelers hours after the 2003 NFL Draft, and he'll be the guy in Latrobe trying to take Reed's job. In Reed's mind, the competition may be intense, but it also will be friendly. "I think about it a lot," said Reed about the process of defending what he finally has. "I tell Mike Schneck and Josh Miller to keep sticking it in my mind that anything can happen at any time. When young guys come in and compete with me, I’m not the kind of person to go up to them and tell them they have no chance. I was in their shoes one year ago. I’m going to help them, do whatever I can, and hopefully they’ll help me. I think I have a lot of learning to do, I’ll be honest. I want to play in this league a long time." Ruffin will arrive at St. Vincent College with some impressive college statistics. He left the University of Cincinnati as the best kicker in school history. He won the Lou Groza Award in 2000; he converted 78.5 percent of his field goals over four college seasons; he made 86.4 percent of his field goals as a senior; and he kicked a career-long 49-yard field goal last season against Ohio State. "I didn’t get a chance to meet him yet, but in my first year (at North Carolina), he won the Groza Award," said Reed. "I’ve seen him kick on television but not in person. He’s really accurate. I know it’s going to be a good competition, and I heard he’s a good guy. I’ll be open to helping him as much as I can, and hopefully if he sees me doing something wrong he’ll throw his two cents in." There might be as many as six wide receivers on an NFL team's 53-man roster, so it's easy for one receiver to be friendly with another because there are multiple openings up for grabs. But with kickers, there is one job per team. The guy you're helping figure out the wind patterns at Heinz Field one day could be changing into his uniform in your locker the next. Reed has been on the receiving end of the cold realities of the NFL, and he says he's determined to avoid allowing them to change the kind of person he wants to be. "My biggest thing is the more you talk, the more insecure you become," said Reed. "Be humble and just have fun doing what you do. If you have a bad kick, just make the next one. Nobody’s perfect. "I’m not going to mention any names, but when I tried out for all these different teams, there was one guy there who thought he was better than everyone else at every tryout. He’s not on a team right now. I don’t understand that attitude when we’re all in the same boat. I know there’s only one kicker on every team, but why not be positive, because I think your character reflects your play on the field anyway." |
