Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu Revolutionize the Safety Position | NFL Films

over the last decade two players have dominated the NFL and set a new standard at their position no for a change we're not talking about Brady and Manning today our focus is on Edie Reed and Troy Polamalu and Troy are in the latter stages of their careers but NFL head coaches who still have to face them remain in awe of these two safeties when you coach young safeties and and and you go to the combine do you interview these guys coming out of college you know who do you emulate who do you look you know who do you pattern your game after and they always say Troy and they say yeah look at the next draft class and so forth we're looking for the next Troy Polamalu or add Reed Tom Brady knows what it's like to be an MVP so does Peyton Manning if you're going to beat them you have to stop them the same can be said for red and Troy well I think there's a great comparison I think the focal point of a lot of teams is the quarterback it's the nature of our game and when you play the game as well as Tom Brady and and Peyton Manning have played it it's easy to see why they've gotten all the attention they've gotten but when you talk and Reid and Troy Polamalu they've got all the same thing for their teams just in a different way throws it over the middle of the field the passage from this boggle the safety best best safety in the history of the game I don't think it's close every really is to me the the most complete and best safety that that I've ever seen in the National Football League if they catch the ball hit him hard don't they soft man they thought they don't want physical football they don't want physical football keep on going keep on going keep on going hey James Brown whoa no deccan Sam Brown bad boy on one of the greatest plays I ever saw him make was against Manning where he lined up on the on the weak side of the formation and on the snap of the ball he turned and ran to the middle of the field like he was gonna play in the middle of a field and of course you know Manning read that and came back and threw the go back to the X and Reed knew that when he went to the middle of the field that Payton would come back to the X so he ran to the middle of field but without even looking at the quarterback he just turned and wheeled when he before he got to the hash mark and just knew that that was the gonna be the play and ran over the sideline intercepted it I mean it's just so obvious when he's reading the quarterback yeah those receivers will run right past them and he never flinches and he doesn't even acknowledge him and he's just read the quarterback he's always moving man he's on the quarterback he's on doesn't he take this Vincent Jackson let's do D man he put it in the end let's making fake now Henry watch it since he was drafted out of Miami in 2002 Reid has gained the most interception return yards in NFL history picks it off in the end zone get it up now he's bringing it out here he comes Danya red he's at the 20 and read at the 30 he's check the beat not only would he pick it he'd run it for a touchdown with him it was never about getting the ball it was about scoring with the ball on his hand Shanta tech a little bit field he dummy the Cylons what back in the 20 he's at the tail and you better believe but what makes Reid extra special is how it contributes in other areas of the game Reid is the first player in league history to return an interception a fumble a punt and a blocked punt for a touchdown you know a lot of people forget how good and Reid was as a punt rusher I personally always felt that if he had been on my team I don't think I would have ever taken him off the punt return team I would have always left him out there on the end or rushed the punter because he's such a threat and he's so dynamic out there blocking punts for touchdowns just an unbelievable play again every coming up with a big play this guy is a complete football player while Baltimore's best ball hawk ever deserves plenty of praise he isn't the only safety who is head and shoulders above the rest I am mr. Feeny this is Troy Polamalu from the Pittsburgh Steelers yes I am the guy with big hair anyway I'm calling to tell you that head and shoulders and ask for shampoos just for men right heaven cut my hair for ten years in those ten years the guy with the big hair has been the guy making the big plays in Pittsburgh right when you need a big play who shows up number 43 I'll never forget when try to swipe the ball in Baltimore on the Blitz and and on their sideline some of us how can you not know where the hair is you know I always say well he plays with his hair on fire you know which is that's a truth and look at that hair choice one of those guys that you're the opposing you know offensive coordinator and those guys they're sitting there in the first guy they're talking about is okay what are we gonna do to take care of you know a guy with all the hair hanging out of the back of his helmet it's always a challenge when you prepare matter of fact we found a big long wig and put it under a couple of our players a practice field just so we knew where Troy was all the time twixt really fast and extraordinarily explosive you see him just flash across the screen to take off out of coverage to go make a play I love Troy and I can still remember going to his pro day at Southern Cal yeah this low ceiling my first job was at USC as a graduate assistant so they had the vertex the thing they you know test the guys for the vertical going they took them you know one of the tiles out on the roof and the whole I remember was Troy jumping up and disappearing basically go and I didn't think it was going to ever come down you know and they yell out forty four inches you know and the place is going nuts there's one play and there's one of those athletic plays I've ever seen Troy was working across the field and got blocked and spun around and tackled the ball carrier what is back for help impressive you know it's rare that when you look across there and you're like man what a great player like Palmolive it's like man I wish he was on our team you know that's the kind of guy is

Channel: NFL Films

Views: 3,297,369

Rating: 4.9057946 out of 5

Keywords: NFL, Football, NFL Films, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Steelers, Ravens, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Safety, safeties, defense, afc, north, interception, tackle, sack, highlights, feature, story, NFL Films Presents

Id: u1u2P2fQCkY

Length: 9min 11sec (551 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 20 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

How lucky were we to be able to watch both of these guys play at the height of their careers? Whether you prefer Ed or Troy, you can't deny that at their peak, they were a privilege to watch.

[u/stuckmeformypaper]

It goes to show with a guy like Reed, an offense ain't that hard to figure out if you're willing to hit the film room like a fiend. In quarterback terms, Reed was the Peyton Manning of safeties while Troy was the Brett Favre. One goes and over prepares while the other showed out with freakish physical ability.

[u/winemaster]

Such different players, but both so incredibly dominant. I feel so privileged to have been able to see them in their prime. Reed the ultimate center-fielder, and Polamalu the play wrecker.

Watching that video reminds me why I love football.

[u/appmanga]

I think lot of people would consider Dee Milliner a bust, but when Ed Reed played those few weeks for the Jets, Milliner looked like he could be a star. I don't think that was a coincidence.

[u/[deleted]]

It was nice watching a 9 minute video.with 7 minutes of reed. What a wonderful comparison

[u/Supanini]

Man I love watching clips of Ed. Miss that man

[u/Jamie_Naughright]

Missed opportunity. This video should have been called "Safety First."

[u/fartfacepooper]

TLDW: Ed Reed was the smartest safety ever, Polamalu was the most athletic.

[u/DUNKMA5TER]

Always found it funny these two were so often compared considering they played near polar opposite styles. Ed Reed was a pure coverage guy and probably the best in NFL history at being able to read a QB and judge where the ball was going to be thrown. Polamalu was a havoc making machine that played like a linebacker more often than he did a safety, but his freakish athleticism allowed him to make crazy guesses and recover in time if he guessed wrong.