Ed Reed stands at the
epicenter of a storm of more than 500 children
turned loose in a field beside Booker T.
Washington Middle School on a sunny, humid October
morning.
Boys and girls occasionally break ranks to reach the
Ravens' Pro Bowl safety, shake his hand, exchange a
high-five or just say hello. They embrace him at every
opportunity. From all appearances, Reed enjoys the
repartee as much as the kids. He smiles often and
responds to each request as he roams the field on
Fitness Day, a day set up by the NFL to emphasize the
merits of exercise and healthy diet.
When he spots one student whose khaki pants are slung
low over his hips, Reed intercepts the young boy as if
that student were scrambling out of the pocket for a
big run. "Pull your pants up, man. What are you doing?"
Reed says in a voice more reassuring than scolding.
The young boy dutifully hikes up his pants.
In truth, there are few details that escape Reed when
it comes to Booker T. Washington, an inner-city school
he adopted after arriving in Baltimore in 2002 as a
first-round draft pick. One of his early stops was
Booker T., nestled in the historic Marble Hill
community of West Baltimore and surrounded by drugs,
poverty and prostitution.
Reed, 30, is familiar with the dark corners and
don't-cross lines of such neighborhoods. He grew up in
one in Shrewsbury, La., in the shadow of New Orleans.
He is living proof you can come out with a better life
than you imagined, that you don't have to be a victim
of circumstance and misfortune just because you have a
tough start.
These are among the messages Reed delivers to the
student body on any given Tuesday during football
season. He will pop up unannounced in a pottery class
to talk shop. He'll meet with a group of young boys who
need to grasp the importance of respecting elders and
peers. He'll introduce businessmen to serve as role
models for the next generation. He relates to the kids
on their level.
This is what Reed does to repay a favor he received
some 15years ago, and even more because he loves kids.
"In many respects, he is the same child with regard to
his background," said Latanya Robinson, executive
assistant at Booker T. Washington. "He's done some of
the same things they've done. The kids who've really
listened to his story understand you don't have to
start off as a model student. It's up to you to
determine which way you want to go. And he constantly
reminds them of that, that success is determined by
you."
Booker T.'s students have gotten the message.
"He's really nice to be doing what he's doing for
Booker T.," eighth-grader Tyra Hooper said. "Because
most people, they really don't care. But it shows that
he cares."
Said Deasya Holley, another eighth-grader: "He knows
what some of us have to go through in life, and he
wants to be a big difference in everybody's life at
Booker T. Washington."
A kid who needed focus
Reed was not a model student in
Shrewsbury. Sports, not school, dominated his early
years. Ben Parquet is a student advocate for the St.
Charles Parish, La., school system who met Reed at the
behest of his wife, Dee, a teacher at Cameron Middle
School. Dee told Ben of a charismatic young boy who
could use his help.
"He wasn't a bad kid; he was mischievous," Parquet
said. "He wasn't real focused on school work. I saw him
as a youngster with great potential."
Reed was drifting toward an uncertain future when
Parquet made a tactical decision. He asked the
assistant superintendent of the school district to
include Reed in a group of middle school students being
promoted to high school. Reed was too old to continue
playing sports in middle school, but was too young - by
a week - to make the cutoff for high school. Parquet
reasoned that Reed would have strayed if he stayed at
Cameron, but going to Destrehan High would give him
incentive to get on track.
In a move that continues to have positive
repercussions, the school district granted Parquet's
request. Reed went to high school, where he starred in
football, basketball and track, and earned a
scholarship to the University of Miami.
"If I hadn't gone to high school when Ben helped me get
to high school, I wouldn't be here right now," he said
before a recent Ravens practice
Where would he be?
"No telling. Probably be back home coaching or
something like that."
Reed stills views Parquet, 69 and semi-retired, as a
mentor. Parquet thinks of Reed as family.
"I feel as close to him as if he was my own son,"
Parquet said. "He has a special place in my heart, not
because he's successful, but because of what he does
for the kids in the [Booker T. Washington] community.
He makes me feel it was worth it."
Parquet wasn't the only one who saw something special
in Reed. Jeanne Hall, a secretary at Destrehan High,
and her husband, Walter, took Reed into their St. Rose
home during his sophomore and junior years. The
second-oldest of five brothers in Shrewsbury, Reed got
his bearings in suburban St. Rose, and his parents
recognized the benefit of getting away from home.
In Baltimore, at the invitation of then-Ravens
cornerback James Trapp, Reed visited Booker T. in 2002
as a rookie. He quickly grew to love working with
inner-city kids.
Trapp, who played on the Ravens' Super Bowl team in the
2000 season, knew his time in Baltimore was up. He saw
in Reed a successor to the program he started in 1999
with Jim Hamlin, a retired community relations manager
at UPS and a Booker T. graduate.
"Ed wasn't a wild guy," said Trapp, now a chaplain for
the Atlanta Falcons. "He was kind of reserved, and you
could see he had a heart for helping people."
His own money
Since then, The Ed Reed Eye of the
Hurricane Foundation has poured time, money and energy
into Booker T. Washington and other causes. Reed
sponsors a high school football camp and golf
tournament in Louisiana each summer. According to Bita
Khorrami, executive director of Reed's foundation, Reed
sent $70,000 to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Over the past five years, Khorrami said, the foundation
has donated about $350,000 to various causes.
"Ed is more than a philanthropist," she said. "He is
willing to put his own money out there when others
aren't."
At the beginning of each school year, Reed provides
supplies for needy students. Each Thanksgiving and
Christmas, his foundation provides turkeys for families
that can't afford them. Last year, he gave 120 students
$150 each to spend on Christmas gifts. The students are
selected by their teachers based on need. And he has a
party at the end of the year to reward students who
make the honor roll.
When Reed found out Booker T. students didn't use their
lockers because items would disappear, he bought 600
locks. He also paid for a $5,000 kiln to bake clay in
the pottery classes. Khorrami said Reed has contributed
between $85,000 and $100,000 - out of his own pocket -
to Booker T. over the past five years.
Then there is Reed's LORDS program (leadership, order,
respect, discipline, success), which rewards 20-25
students with tickets to a Ravens home game. Tickets
are based on attendance, discipline and academics.
Hamlin, who continues to help at Booker T., said the
changes at the school will be life-lasting.
"It's a combination of behavior, attitude and a sense
of pride in the school and pride in themselves," Hamlin
said of the impact. "All that we're doing here and all
that Ed's doing here will be in the minds of the kids
forever and a day."
Robinson said the most tangible results are in improved
attendance, but that benefits run deeper.
"Ed shows our kids they deserve to be recognized for
the good things they do," she said. "His presence alone
and his involvement shows them they have something to
be proud of. ... He's truly a humanitarian."
From a distance, Parquet sees the cycle begin anew.
"Ed's a tremendous guy, and I'm so proud of him,"
Reed's mentor said.
"Think of how many Ed Reeds are out there that didn't
get the help to go forward. He realizes that, too. And
deep down, that's why he gives so much. He sees himself
in a lot of those kids, and he wants them to be
successful."
(baltimoresun.com)