Reed is the NFL's best player

Voters of the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award messed up.

That’s the bottom line.

The wrong person received the NFL’s MVP award this season. And that’s not a knock against this season’s recipient, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

It’s a compliment to the person that should have the title of the NFL’s MVP.

Let’s look at Manning for a bit.

Many people believe Manning played the best football of his career during the 2008 season, and that is hard to argue against.

Manning did his usual, passing for more than 4,000 yards while adding an impressive 27 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions.

On top of that, he led a team that might not have been as good as it has been in recent years on a nine-game winning streak and a 12-4 record.
That’s pretty darn impressive, and admittedly is MVP worthy.

But, as deserving of the award as Manning was, there is another player who I believe was even more deserving.

To give this player an award, though, would mean the voters would have to think a little bit outside of the box.

Consider, no player at his position has ever been named the NFL’s MVP. The position I’m talking about is safety.

The player I’m talking about is Baltimore’s Ed Reed.

Before this season, Reed, a former Destrehan High standout, was easily the best safety in the NFL.

Throughout the course of this season, and especially since the beginning of December, Reed now has to be included in the conversation of the best safeties ever.

Not counting the playoffs, he has nine interceptions and 16 passes defended. He returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns. He also forced a fumble that he returned for a touchdown.

In the Ravens’ wild-card playoff game against the Miami Dolphins, Reed stayed hot, intercepting two more passes and returning one 64 yards for a touchdown that gave Baltimore a 10-3 lead in the second quarter.

Spectacular.

But for Reed, spectacular has become routine.

In five of the last seven games he’s played in, Reed has had two interceptions.

In a 36-7 shellacking of the Philadelphia Eagles, Reed returned an interception 107 yards for a score.

In a 24-10 win against the Washington Redskins, Reed followed an interception by stripping the ball from running back Clinton Portis, picking it up and scoring.

And, in consecutive games, with playoff positioning on the line, Reed had two interceptions against both the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars.

In a career that’s been filled with big plays -- Reed has 43 regular season interceptions in seven seasons -- the Destrehan product just continues to get better.

Even more surprising is that Reed didn’t win the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award. That honor went to Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison.

Harrison had a great season, as did Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware, who finished second in voting. Both players have huge impacts on a game. Harrison finished with 16 sacks and seven forced fumbles, and Ware finished with 20 sacks.

But Reed can single-handedly take over a game, as he’s shown over and over again.

Even on defense, Reed is somehow his team’s most dangerous offensive weapon -- try to make sense of that.

His interceptions on Sunday against Miami caused a 14-point swing.

He scored on his first interception, and his second interception ended a Dolphins’ drive deep in Ravens territory.

Anytime he’s on the field, Reed is the best player. Period.

And, in my book, Reed should be the NFL’s MVP.

It’s not a knock against any other player -- it’s just a compliment to the NFL’s best player.

(houmatoday.com)