Who better to make the case for Andre Reed’s candidacy for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, than another Hall of Famer?
Former Bills coach Marv Levy says Reed belongs in the Hall for a variety of reasons. Levy was a guest on The John Murphy Show Wednesday night.
The Bills all time leading receiver, Reed has been one of the 15 finalists for election to the Hall of Fame for the eighth time. And his former coach, Marv Levy, says Reed has handled the disappointment well.
“He has, he’s handled it very graciously,” Levy said. “I think he’s tremendously deserving.”
Levy, who was elected to the Pro Football shrine in 2001, says there’s more to Andre Reed’s resume than just numbers.
“You can talk about statistics,” Levy told host John Murphy. “When he retired,he was the third most prolific receiver of all time. But it went way beyond that with Andre.”
“If you stop to think about it,” Levy said, “we had a balanced offense, it wasn’t just focused on one guy, and yet he racked up the catches. There was nobody ever in the history of the game better at coming across the middle, more courageous. His nickname with our players was ‘YAC,’ not because he talked about, but because of Yards After the Catch.”
Levy also said playing in Buffalo weather should bolster Reed’s case for inclusion in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“There’s one other element with Andre, with all those statistics you mentioned. He didn’t get them in the nice weather, in a warm climate or in the confines of an indoor stadium, he got them in weather that was sometimes tremendously challenging. Modest guy, a team player, so deserving, I hope this is his year.”
The complete interview with Hall of Fame Coach Marv Levy is available here
