Raven Country

Ravens Nearly Missed On Ed Reed

The Baltimore Ravens look back on the 2002 NFL Draft, where the team almost missed out on one of the franchise's best players.

Jeremy Brener

Jan 28, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Former Baltimore Ravens Ed Reed looks on from the sidelines
Jan 28, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Former Baltimore Ravens Ed Reed looks on from the sidelines / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
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In the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens were hoping to add to their already-electric defense and give linebacker Ray Lewis someone to work with.

However, things didn't end up in their favor when the player they wanted, linebacker Napoleon Harris, went the pick before. That means Ed Reed, the Hall-of-Fame safety, wasn't the Ravens' top choice for their first pick in the 2002 NFL Draft.

In an appearance on "The Ryan Ripken Show," Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, an area scout at the time with the team, took listeners inside the team's draft room in 2002.

"It was quiet and painful in our draft room, because we were going to get the 17th-best player on our board," Ravens general manager DeCosta said. "Now we have to settle for a safety from Miami who's undersized, a step slow, the 24th-best player in the draft. Long story short, Hall of Famer versus Napoleon Harris, where is he now? No one knows. And that happens. That's the nature of the draft."

The draft is about the moves you make, but sometimes it's about the ones you don't make. Often, it can be about the moves others make that affects you, and it appears that the Raiders choice ended up giving the Ravens another Hall-of-Famer to the defense.

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Jeremy Brener

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.