Ed Reed told Hines Ward, 'You're a dirty player'

Baltimore Ravens star free safety Ed Reed has tested wits for years with Pittsburgh Steelers hard-nosed wide receiver Hines Ward, colliding with him often and forming a certain opinion.

While Reed respects Ward, whose crushing downfield blocks inspired the NFL to outlaw his crackback hits on defenseless players.

"You have those guys out there, I've talked about them before, there's certain rules out there, the Hines Ward rules, where you're hitting people with the crown of your helmet," Reed said today at his youth football camp at Franklin High. "That's the truth about it. I love Hines as a player and I told him that. But I told him also for a long time, ‘You're a dirty player because I know how you play.'

"When you're hitting people with the crown of your helmet, you're trying to hurt them. You're trying to take them out. That's when the game needs to policed a certain way."

Reed said he'll pass up huge hits to prevent injuring another player.

"I always play the game a certain way, regardless of what guys say," Reed said. "I've given some shots out there, but even those shots have been to where the guy can get up. I play a position where I know I have kill shots. I can really hurt somebody if I wanted to. I work out to put myself in shape because you just never know."

What about oft-fined Steelers linebacker James Harrison?

Reed thinks he plays the game hard and clean.

"When James Harrison is hitting somebody, he's giving them shoulder and they're getting concussions," Reed said. "That's different. When somebody is literally dropping their head in a professional league, now you have to talk about suspension and fining them high."

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(carrollcountytimes.com)