Washington Redskins: Is it Time for Jordan Reed to Retire?

Jordan Reed is dominant when on the field for the Washington Redskins, but he might need to consider hanging up his pads

For the last few years, the Washington Redskins have had one of the best tight ends in football. Jordan Reed absolutely embarrassed defenses on a weekly basis. However, it’s time for him to think about his future. The Redskins drafted Reed in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft, and he immediately had an impact.

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In just nine games, the rookie tight end recorded 45 catches for 499 yards and three touchdowns. In his sophomore campaign, he accumulated 50 receptions for 465 yards in 11 games. Then, in 2015, Reed caught 87 passes in 14 games, picking up 952 yards and 11 touchdowns in the process. In the five games this season, Reed has 33 catches for 316 yards and two touchdowns.

In case you didn’t figure it out yet, he’s really good. Reed’s a matchup nightmare in fact. He’s too big (6-2, 246 lbs) for a cornerback to cover him. However, he’s too athletic for a linebacker to contain him. It all adds up to Reed being one of the most dangerous players whenever he steps onto the field.

That’s just the problem though. He struggles to get on the field. I’m sure you noticed that I never said he played in all 16 games of a season when throwing out his stats. The most he’s appeared in during a single season is 14.

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He’s now listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The culprit this time around? A concussion. Not just any concussion though. This is Reed’s sixth concussion since his time with the Florida Gators. That’s not counting any before college or any that have slipped between the cracks.

Sure, everyone gets bumps and bruises. I’ve had multiple concussions myself. Some were from playing sports, like smacking my head against the floor in a basketball game. Some, like my most recent, were not in an athletic setting however. I managed to roll off of a couch and hit my head on an end table, effectively giving myself a concussion. If it wasn’t for the fact that I cut my eyebrow open and my brother asking me why my eye was bleeding, I wouldn’t have noticed anything was wrong. That would’ve been an undocumented concussion.

So how many stupid concussions has Reed had that weren’t documented? I know for a fact he wouldn’t be too excited about telling people he fell off a couch. Maybe he’s had none, but I don’t know many athletes that get every bump to the head checked out. Even if he’s had none however, six is a pretty high number. What’s more alarming is the fact that he’s had at least four in his four years in the NFL.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s an absolute joy to watch this man play every week. There’s no way to really describe how incredible he is on the field.

Okay, actually, WordeSmith does a pretty good job of the noises that come from people when watching him. It’s just utter amazement.

With that being said, Reed needs to start worrying about his health, and his future. Is it worth it? Will a few more years of being one of the best in football be worth whatever these concussions have in store for him?

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A lot of the time, we as observers watch the amazing things athletes do in their respective sports and forget about everything else. These are people with family and lives outside of football. Would we all love to watch what could be a Hall of Fame career unfold? Absolutely—but the price is too steep. A life is more important than football.

Whatever Reed decides to do will be the right decision, because he’s the one that ultimately gets to make the choice. I just hope he knows that no one would blame him for walking away from the game that is causing him so much pain.