 Reed in March 2009 | |||||||||
| No. 83, 84 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1964-01-29)January 29, 1964 (age 61) Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Dieruff (Allentown, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||
| College: | Kutztown (1982–1984) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1985: 4th round, 86th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Andre Darnell Reed (born January 29, 1964) is an American former professionalfootballwide receiver who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with theBuffalo Bills. He playedcollege football for theKutztown Golden Bears and was selected by the Bills in the fourth round of the1985 NFL draft with the 86th overall selection. Following 15 seasons with the Bills, where he earnedPro Bowl honors seven times, Reed spent his final season as a member of theWashington Redskins in 2000.
Reed currently ranks 18th inall-time NFL touchdown receptions with 87 and tenth inall-time NFL post-season receptions with 85. Reed helped lead the Bills to four consecutive, although winless,Super Bowls,Super Bowl XXV toSuper Bowl XXVIII.
At the time of his 2001 retirement, Reed was second in all-time NFL career receptions.[1] He was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Reed was born inAllentown, Pennsylvania on January 29, 1964. He began his football career at Allentown'sDieruff High School, where he playedquarterback and competed in theEastern Pennsylvania Conference, which is known for producing top collegiate and NFL football talent. In his senior year in 1981, Reed helped lead Dieruff to an EPC tri-championship, tying for the championship withEmmaus High School andWhitehall High School.
Reed then attendedKutztown University, where he moved to thewide receiver position and quickly drew the attention of the NFL for his speed and durability at the receiver position. He set nine school records and finished his college career with 142 receptions for 2,020 yards and 14 touchdowns.[2]
In the1985 NFL draft, Reed was selected by theBuffalo Bills in the fourth round with the 86th overall selection, making him just the second player ever from Kutztown to be selected in an NFL Draft; the first was Don Shaver in 1981.[3][4] Reed played for the Bills for 15 consecutive seasons, from1985 through1999, during which he helped lead the Bills to four consecutiveSuper Bowls. He was released in the 2000 offseason along with fellow longtime Bills' playersThurman Thomas andBruce Smith after the team found itself in severesalary cap trouble; the roster dump began a period of downfall for the Buffalo Bills, who did not again reach the playoffs until the2017 season.
In addition to the important role he played in taking the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls, Reed is also remembered for his contributions to the Bills' January 3, 1993, playoff victory over theHouston Oilers, a game that has come to be known simply as"The Comeback." In the game, which Houston led 35–3 during the third quarter, Reed caught three touchdowns in the second half, leading Buffalo's rally from a 32-point deficit[5] in what became the largest comeback in NFL history. Reed finished the game with eight receptions for 136 yards and three touchdowns. The game has been enshrined in NFL history as one of the greatest games ever played. It also is recognized as one of the largest comebacks by any team in the history of all of the American professional sports.
Following the Bills' victory over Houston, Reed went on to catch eight passes for 152 yards in the Bills' 52–17Super Bowl XXVII loss, on January 31, 1993, to theDallas Cowboys.
In 2000, Reed signed a two-year contract with theDenver Broncos in June but was buried on the depth chart behindRod Smith,Ed McCaffrey,Robert Brooks, andTravis McGriff.[6] Reed eventually asked for his release from the Broncos after then Broncos Head CoachMike Shanahan informed Reed that he would be inactive for their2000 season opener and wanted to make a more immediate contribution.[7] He eventually joined theWashington Redskins and retired after the2000 season.
Reed ranks 15th in all-time NFL history intouchdown receptions with 87 and ninth in NFL history inall-time post-season receptions with 85 as of 2022.
He exceeded 1,000 receiving yards four times in a 16-year career and rushed for 500 yards and a touchdown on 75 carries. With the Bills, Reed played in four consecutiveSuper Bowls (1991–1994) and was selected to thePro Bowl in seven consecutive seasons (1988–1994). He set season career highs with 90 receptions in 1994, ten touchdowns in 1991, and 1,312 receiving yards in 1989.
A tribute to his physical durability, Reed played in 234 NFL games between 1985 and 2000,the 99th-most games played by any player in NFL history, including players in less physically demanding positions, including kickers and punters.
In his four Super Bowls, Reed recorded 27 receptions, the third-most total career Super Bowl receptions in NFL history behindJerry Rice's 33 andTravis Kelce's 35, and 323 total Super Bowl receiving yards, sixth-most in Super Bowl history.
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Rushing | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FD | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | ||
| 1985 | BUF | 16 | 15 | 48 | 637 | 13.3 | 32 | 4 | — | 3 | -1 | -0.3 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1986 | BUF | 15 | 15 | 53 | 739 | 13.9 | 55 | 7 | — | 3 | -8 | -2.7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1987 | BUF | 12 | 12 | 57 | 752 | 13.2 | 40 | 5 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988 | BUF | 15 | 14 | 71 | 968 | 13.6 | 65 | 6 | — | 6 | 64 | 10.7 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 88 | 1,312 | 13.7 | 78 | 9 | — | 2 | 31 | 15.5 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1990 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 71 | 945 | 13.3 | 56 | 8 | — | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 81 | 1,113 | 13.7 | 55 | 10 | 62 | 12 | 136 | 11.3 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 65 | 913 | 14.0 | 51 | 3 | 41 | 8 | 65 | 8.1 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 1993 | BUF | 15 | 15 | 52 | 854 | 16.4 | 65 | 6 | 32 | 9 | 21 | 2.3 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 1994 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 90 | 1,303 | 14.5 | 83 | 8 | 64 | 10 | 87 | 8.7 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 1995 | BUF | 6 | 6 | 24 | 312 | 13.0 | 41 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 48 | 6.9 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 1996 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 66 | 1,036 | 15.7 | 78 | 6 | 42 | 8 | 22 | 2.8 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997 | BUF | 15 | 15 | 60 | 880 | 14.7 | 77 | 5 | 39 | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | BUF | 15 | 13 | 63 | 795 | 12.6 | 67 | 5 | 49 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 52 | 536 | 10.3 | 30 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | WAS | 13 | 0 | 10 | 103 | 10.3 | 21 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 234 | 217 | 951 | 13,198 | 13.9 | 83 | 87 | 378 | 75 | 500 | 6.7 | 46 | 1 | 12 | 9 | |
In 2006, Reed was voted into the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame, joining a number of other players from Bills history whose names are enshrined in cement insideHighmark Stadium. Reed's was inducted in 2009 along with former teammateBruce Smith and team ownerRalph Wilson. Through the night, Reed was referred to multiple times as "future Hall of Famer" with various speeches voicing their ringing endorsement for Reed as a candidate.
Reed became eligible for induction into the NFL's Pro Football Hall of Fame, the highest honor afforded a former NFL player, in 2006. However, he was not selected for induction in any of his first seven years of eligibility due partly to a logjam of accomplished wide receiver candidates, includingArt Monk,Michael Irvin, andCris Carter. Although Irvin, Monk and Carter are now enshrined as of 2007, 2008 and 2013 respectively, the logjam became worse for Reed when he was again overlooked in 2009 and 2010, which saw wide receiver candidatesJerry Rice andTim Brown both eligible for the first time.[8] Rice has long been considered one of the greatest players in league history and was almost assured of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, making 2010 a long shot for Reed. As expected, Rice was inducted, which cleared some of the logjam going forward for Reed.[8] Reed remained a Hall of Fame candidate in 2011, 2012, and 2013 but was passed over each of those years.
On February 1, 2014, Reed was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he was inducted on August 2, 2014.
Since his NFL retirement in 2000, Reed has provided football commentary on theESPN2 show,First Take, and appears periodically as a football analyst onNFL on Fox. He has also appeared on theSpike TV sports seriesPros vs. Joes in the show's second season.
He is also known forHawaii Five-0 where he appeared in "Ka'aelike" (Season 7, Episode 12). He played a federal prosecutor onMacGyver. He also appeared onMagnum PI Season 2 Episode 17 as himself and as a car salesman who abuses his uncanny resemblance to Andre Reed.
The Andre Reed Foundation was established in 2010 to help underprivileged children reach their full potential and become responsible contributors to their communities.[citation needed] Reed is currently aBoys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) Ambassador after being inducted to their Hall of Fame in 2015. In addition, he leads up a literacy program for underprivileged youth in the BGCA, called Read with Reed 83 Challenge.
On October 18, 2014,Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Reed's alma mater, renamed University Field toAndre Reed Stadium in his honor in a ceremony.[9]
Reed is mentioned in the 1996 filmJerry Maguire as one of several NFL wide receivers with lucrative contracts, as Rod Tidwell,[10] a fictional wide receiver for theArizona Cardinals, played byCuba Gooding, Jr., tells his agent, played byTom Cruise, that his contract warrants high pay.
In 2023, Reed married Theresa Villano inSan Diego, California. Reed has hosted an annual celebrity golf event for over 10 years. Reed's nephew, Jackson Reed, playscollege football forSusquehanna University as awide receiver. Reed regularly keeps in touch with Jackson, who also wears the number 83. Jackson attended his uncle's celebrity golf event in the summer of 2024 alongside friends and teammates from the Susquehanna Riverhawks Football team. Jackson, born and raised in Pennsylvania like his Uncle, is a fan of thePhiladelphia Eagles but still roots for theBuffalo Bills because of his uncle's history with the team.
In 2025, Reed was named commissioner of theEntertainment Football Association, anarena football league with teams along the Eastern Seaboard.[11]
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