Reed sets sights, hopes on full recovery

[ChiTownBull]

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/sports/football/nfl/philadelphia_eagles/13734007.htm

J.R. REED remains hopeful that, one day soon, he will play football again for the Eagles. At the same time, he braces for the very real possibility his career is over.

"Right now, I'm kind of trying to figure out what I want to do [other than play football]," said Reed, who sat out the entire 2005 season after damaging the peroneal nerve in his left leg in a freak accident last February. "I want to do some internships, so I can figure out what I don't want to do, and then go from there. If football's done, then I've got to find something."

Reed was at Shaw Middle School in Southwest Philly yesterday to participate in an hourlong stay-in-school program sponsored by Power 99 radio. Told the kids how important it is to get an education.

"Anything can happen to you at any time," he said.

Reed is living proof of that. The safety out of the University of South Florida appeared to have a promising NFL future before he hurt himself jumping a fence less than a month after playing in Super Bowl XXXIX with the Eagles.

To look at him, you wouldn't know there is anything wrong. But there is.

He can run and jump and plays basketball almost every day. But the damage to the peroneal nerve prevents him from lifting his foot all the way.

"If you can't lift your foot up, you can't really control your ankle," he said. "Running's not a problem, but going side to side is. If they put me on the field and I got hit wrong, I'd break my ankle."

His hopes for playing again rest in a pair of operations he will have over the next 4 months.

"They will put other stuff in there, so they can kind of bypass the nerve," he said. "The nerve could also come back later. But I don't have time to wait for it. Hopefully, it'll make the foot work without the nerve."

Reed would be the first professional athlete to have this type of surgery. But he said it's been successful on police officers and firefighters.

"They were able to go back to their jobs and function perfectly," he said.

"If it's God's will for me to be on the field, then I'll be there. After surgery, with my work ethic and everything, if it's possible, I'll be on that field. Either my optimism will go away, or it'll be even higher."

If it's not possible, then he will get on with the rest of his life. He completed his degree in management information systems in December, taking classes at Temple and Rowan. Coaching is a possibility. USF offered him a coaching internship last fall, but he turned it down.

"I wasn't ready to go back to Florida," he said. "I wasn't ready to give up, up here. When all is said and done, after surgery, if they say I can't play anymore, then [coaching] will be a consideration."

Reed kept his distance from the Eagles this past season. It was too painful to be around the team, knowing he couldn't play. He went to the first home game against San Francisco, but left at halftime. Didn't go to another game. Visited the team's Nova-Care Complex only two or three times.

"I just couldn't be around the team," he said. "Especially the way they were struggling."

He said it was even too painful to watch the Eagles on television.

"I usually slept during the game and then would watch 'SportsCenter' later to see what happened," he said. "I tried not to pay attention to [football]. But football's everywhere. I tried to go to school and tried to separate my life from football."

Found a new sport last fall - bowling.

"I have a competition problem," he said. "I have to compete. I picked up bowling. Now I bowl practically every day. That and classes kept me going. Now I'm done with classes, so now it's just bowling and trying to find some kind of internship or something else to keep me busy."

Birdseed

[flsportsfan83]

I feel for him..... What was he doing jumping over fences in the middle of the night anyways

[Triple B]

Here's another article. Also, a video report if you can stomach going here:

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/default.jsp

NO QUITTING IN LIFE, FOOTBALL  

January 27, 2006

By CHRIS McPHERSON

Safety J.R. Reed could have easily given up.

When Reed severed the peroneal nerve in the back of his leg in the 2005 off-season which has kept him off the football field, he could have quit on himself. He could have disconnected himself from the world and forget about the other things life has to offer.

But he didn't. He went back to school and earned his Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems from the University of South Florida. He's done a couple of internships to figure out what he wants to do after his football career.

Reed took command of his life and he told his story to students at Shaw Elementary School in West Philadelphia on Friday.

Reed has a 'thing' against failure  

"I have a thing against failure," said Reed. "If football doesn't work, that's not the end of life. It might seem like that, it might feel like without football there is nothing; but there is. I love football. I'll always do that first. But if football doesn't work out, I have to have something to fall back on.

"I want to live life and have a family too. I had to finish my last semester of school just to get my foot in the door. I got my foot in with football. It's not going to last forever regardless."

Reed has not given up on football. He will undergo the first of what could be a series of surgeries next month to repair the nerve. It still remains to be seen whether Reed, who was second among all rookie kickoff returners in 2004, will get back to the field in 2006.

"You have to be positive," said Reed. "I have a surgery coming up next month, you have to be optimistic. Things are going alright; I can't say they are good because I'm not playing. Especially with the season we just had."

Head coach Andy Reid said Reed will "struggle" to return by training camp in July. The Eagles missed Reed's explosiveness on kickoff returns. Reed averaged 23.1 yards per return and had a pair of returns over 40 yards. This season, the returners averaged just over 22 yards per return.

Reed's message was important because 81 percent of students at Shaw Elementary come from low-income families, according to the School District of Philadelphia website, and many look to sports as an avenue to escape. But what many students don't realize is that they also have to have a "Plan B."

"They have dreams and goals of being a professional athlete, whether it is basketball or football; but they don't have a Plan B," said Shaw Elementary disciplinarian Raleigh Russell. "It's always important to have a Plan B. There are a lot of drugs and crime that go on and sports allows kids to have an outlet. But they have to hit the books as well."

Reed in action as a rookie in 2004  

"Sports is a way out and it's a good way to release any anger and strife you might have," said Reed. "People say it's an easy way out, but there's no easy in it. My message is to tell them to stay in school and stay positive. Things perk up no matter how bad they seem. Right now, I'm at the bottom of the worst that it could ever get. It's going to get better one day.

"I have no where to go but up."

Many call the NFL "Not for Long," but Reed never thought he "would have to think about (his future) this early."

"My life came to a halt, it just stopped," said Reed. "I got disconnected from the world. I had to overcome the emotional and psychological problems with the injury because it happened so fast. My life made a U-turn. I was rising in my career. I had a good start. I was looking forward to the next season. I was coming back early to get in the weight room and learn some more of the defense.

"And the day before I was scheduled to come back, a freak accident happened. I had to switch lanes and go back to school for six months."

Hopefully, the students at Shaw Elementary will remember Reed's story.

[bulls96go]

good story

i hope he can come back and play

if not would love him at USF