ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Andre Reed is not pulling a Joe Namath redux from Super Bowl III. But he is making a guarantee about Super Bowl LVII.
No, Reed, an Allentown native and Pro Football Hall of Famer, is not guaranteeing a victory for either the Eagles or the Chiefs on Sunday night.
Nor is he guaranteeing Eagles third-year quarterback Jalen Hurts will play a game for the ages or wilt under the hot spotlight of the moment with more than 70,000 fans at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., and another 108 million watching worldwide.
- Allentown native and four-time Super Bowl participant Andre Reed has some advice for Eagles QB Jalen Hurts
- Reed recalls his first Super Bowl appearance with the Buffalo Bills in 1991
- Relying on teammates who had Super Bowl experience is key, Reed said
What Reed has guaranteed, however, is that the 24-year-old Hurts will experience a bundle of nerves as he plays in the biggest game of his life.
Reed said that regardless of a player’s confidence and preparation, the nerves will be there.
And Reed, a four-time Super Bowl participant for the Buffalo Bills in the early 1990s, knows.
'Jalen will deal with being nervous'
“Jalen will deal with being nervous, there’s no doubt about that,” Reed, 59, said by phone recently from his home in California. That's where he now directs The Andre Reed Foundation, which helps underprivileged children, including those in Lehigh Valley, reach their full potential and become responsible contributors to their communities.
“You try to treat it like it's the same game you’ve always played, but it’s not. When Sunday comes around, it’s still a football game. But it’s so hyped up for the two weeks before the game, and all the pregame stuff, it’s like the biggest thing ever."
Reed said his advice to Hurts would be: "Be yourself. Know that you’re the focal point. The team plays how the quarterback plays. Just go out and play the way you know how to play.
"Jalen has played in big games in college [first at Alabama, then at Oklahoma], and this season he’s been phenomenal for the Eagles. He also has some veterans on his team — Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson, Fletcher Cox, [Jason] Kelce, guys like that — who’ve been there before. They can tell him what it’s like and what to expect. I think Jalen will be OK, but it’s a different game.”
Reed's first Super Bowl
Reed, who also was a star at Allentown's Dieruff High School and Kutztown University, knows what that first Super Bowl appearance is like.
He was 26, just two years older than Hurts is today, when the Bills took the field on Jan. 27, 1991, against the New York Giants at Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, Fla.
The rush upon hearing 70,000 fans roaring like a jet engine. The flashing lights. The blaring sound system. The magnitude of the moment was overwhelming and enough to steal one’s breath away. Psychologists define it as performance anxiety.
“I had a lot of players on my team that were able to calm me down a little bit. You can be overly hyped. That’s just the way it is. This was my first time there. It can be pretty overwhelming.”Andre Reed, Allentown native and four-time Super Bowl participant
“I remember running onto the field before the game,” said Reed, who caught eight passes for 62 yards in the Bills' 2019 loss to the Giants.
“I was like, ‘Wow! I’m here! OK, this is what I worked for. This has been my dream since I was a kid playing Pop Warner football at Bucky Boyle Park [in Allentown]. This is what I dreamed about, playing on the big stage in the Super Bowl.’
“But I had a lot of players on my team that were able to calm me down a little bit. You can be overly hyped. That’s just the way it is. This was my first time there. It can be pretty overwhelming.”
40 feet from Whitney Houston
Reed’s first Super Bowl moment was amplified because the United States then was involved in the Gulf War. Patriotism was at a peak not seen in decades. American flags were being waved throughout the stadium.
And as Whitney Houston belted out the most memorable version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Reed and his nerves stood just 40 feet away.
“Because of the war, that was a tough game to get ready for, and it just added to our nerves,” Reed recalled.
Eagles fans can only hope Hurts can harness his nerves on Sunday as well as Reed did.
In Super Bowl history, Reed’s 27 receptions rank second behind only 49ers’ Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (33), and his 323 receiving yards rank third behind Rice (604) and Steelers’ Hall of Famer Lynn Swann (364).
In Super Bowl XXVII against Dallas, Reed was magnificent, catching eight passes for 152 yards.
“I compare that first time in the Super Bowl to playing The Masters for the first time,” Reed said. “You’re at the first tee and don’t want to shank it right or left. It’s just a normal game, but it’s not normal. Your nerves are there, but they’re excitable nerves.
"That’s what Jalen will be dealing with. He’ll be nervous.”
Reed guarantees it.
