As most of you are aware, former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Andre Reed is among the 2011 NFL Hall of Fame finalists. We'll know tonight whether or not Reed will finally break through and join former teammates Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, James Lofton and Bruce Smith - as well as team owner Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. and head coach Marv Levy - in Canton.
In thinking back on Reed's career, as I've done over the last several years on this weekend, I got curious as to Reed's post-season numbers. Forgive me on that front; I knew he had big games - I recall vividly his three-touchdown performance in the comeback game against Houston, as that, at the tender age of seven, was the game that hooked me on football for good - but in his heyday, I was but an oblivious grade schooler living in Pennsylvania.
So I went back through the numbers. Yeah - Reed was pretty good in the post-season. He had huge games, and while he was not as big a factor in Buffalo's four Super Bowl losses as he might've been had the Bills been more competitive, Reed's greatness was very apparent when the games mattered most.
Reed appeared in 19 post-season games with the Bills. In those games, he caught 85 passes for 1,229 yards and nine touchdowns, and capped those numbers off with three multi-TD performances and five 100-plus yard games. In four Super Bowl appearances, Reed caught 27 passes for 323 yards, but never did get into the end zone.