Former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed believes that the team could be suffering from a lack of leadership in the aftermath of the Ray Rice incident, but he also believes he has the answer to the team's woes.
Jets QB Michael Vick 'Hopes' Ray Rice Gets Second Chance From Public
Reed, who won Super Bowl XLVII with the Ravens in 2013, appeared on Showtime's Inside the NFL on Tuesday and was asked if he believes there is a leader who can rally the team in the wake of the incident.
Reed discussed how the Ravens should react to the video of Rice knocking out his then-fiancée and now-wife Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City, N.J. elevator in February surfacing online this week.
"I'm sitting right here," Reed told the show, according to ESPN, when asked on the program who could rally the team.
Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald's Dad Irked By His Son's Lack Of Targets In Week 1
Rice was cut by the Ravens and subsequently suspended indefinitely by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell earlier this week when the video of the incident became published.
The NFL had initially suspended Rice for two games after the initial video -- which showed Rice dragging a prone Palmer out of the elevator, but not the actual act of him striking her -- surfaced online this winter.
The NFL received a lot of criticism for the two-game ban, leading to Goodell changing the league's policy on domestic abuse with offenders now getting a six-game suspension after the first issue and a lifetime ban following a second.
Once TMZ released the full video that showed Rice physically knocking out Palmer earlier this week, Goodell and the NFL had to act swiftly and suspend him indefinitely while the Ravens had no choice but to cut him. Reed said he believes that the team needs someone to step up and rally the troops after what happened.
"I think the whole team has to rally around themselves as a group," Reed said. "They have to talk among themselves and say this is our team at the end of the day. It's not the organization so much the people upstairs. It has to be the team that sticks up."
Reed also said "I'm sitting right here with y'all." when asked on the show who could stand up in that locker room and say those words.
Reed was drafted by the Ravens with the 24th overall pick of the 2002 NFL Draft and played 11 seasons with the team before signing with the Houston Texans in March of 2013 and then the New York Jets that November.
Reed said things have changed in Baltimore since he left.
"Of course things change," he said. "Teams grow, people grow. So it's a different mentality that they have around there."
Reed, 35, has played in 174 games in his career and posted 64 interceptions, 531 tackles and seven touchdowns.
The Ravens will look to move on from this situation and bounce back from a 23-16 Week 1 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals when they take the field Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
For more coverage, follow us on Twitter @SportsWN and Like Us on Facebook
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
