Ed Reed

The Ravens released fullback Vonta Leach and I understand the logic. The Ravens have been under the salary cap gun since winning the Super Bowl in February, and they will save approximately $3 million by cutting Leach. My only problem with letting Leach go is that the Ravens lack tough guys. In the NFL, you can't win titles without tough guys, players who are physical and can give a team instant emotion. The Ravens have had those types of players since 2000, going back to Michael McCrary, Rob Burnett, Tony Siragusa, Jonathan Ogden, Jamal Lewis and Ray Lewis.

The Ravens released fullback Vonta Leach and I understand the logic. The Ravens have been under the salary cap gun since winning the Super Bowl in February, and they will save approximately $3 million by cutting Leach. My only problem with letting Leach go is that the Ravens lack tough guys. In the NFL, you can't win titles without tough guys, players who are physical and can give a team instant emotion. The Ravens have had those types of players since 2000, going back to Michael McCrary, Rob Burnett, Tony Siragusa, Jonathan Ogden, Jamal Lewis and Ray Lewis.

The 2012-13 Ravens will be well represented Wednesday when the team travels to the White House to be honored by President Barack Obama for its 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3. Linebacker Ray Lewis , who retired following his 17th season in Baltimore, and safety Ed Reed , who signed a free-agent deal with the Houston Texans in March after playing 11 seasons for the Ravens, are both expected to...

- It is time to put the Ravens Super Bowl championship of 2012-13 away in the history books. The Ravens gathered again at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to celebrate their championship with President Barack Obama. Presidents like to be in on history and associated with champions. When they call for a visit to the White House, it is the final curtain call. As they walked down the stairs out to the South Lawn, the Ravens huddled one more time, and it was no coincidence that Terrell Suggs stood near Ray Lewis flanked by Ed Reed and then Ray Rice.

Ravens All-Pro safety Ed Reed channeled his inner Channing Crowder on Wednesday when a reporter asked him about offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie, whom the Ravens signed after McKinnie was cut by the Vikings. In case you're unfamiliar with Crowder's body of work, the now-retired linebacker was responsible for one of the greatest quotes in the history of geography . Reed's McKinnie quote can't touch that, but it was pretty good. “Baltimore is a different city than Minnesota; there's probably a little more to do,” Reed said, referring to McKinnie's many off-the-field issues with the Vikings . “I don't know why it didn't work out down there.” Different city?

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has never hidden his respect for Ravens safety Ed Reed and that didn't change during Wednesday's news conference at Gillette Stadium. Belichick showered Reed with praise as the Patriots prepare to face the Ravens in Sunday's AFC championship game. "Can't say I've ever coached against anybody better than Ed Reed in the secondary," Belichick said. The Patriots have played the Ravens six times during the regular season and once in the postseason.

His offseason started last winter with a hint of retirement. By summer, he was diplomatically campaigning on radio for a pay raise. In the spring, he underwent invasive hip surgery. Staying ahead of Ed Reed is a difficult proposition at any time, but over the past year, it's been impossible to predict what the Ravens' Pro Bowl safety would do next. Or in Sunday's AFC wild-card game against the Kansas City Chiefs. In his first game back after missing six weeks on the NFL's physically-unable-to-perform list because of the surgery, he had two interceptions and caused a fumble.

After losing the AFC championship game earlier this year, Ed Reed walked through the Ravens locker room singing an old Teddy Pendergrass tune. "I think I better let it go ...," he sang. The familiar lines of "Love TKO" was all Reed was heard saying after the New England Patriots beat the Ravens in January. He didn't address the retirement rumors or any plans for his future. Nearly a month later, Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said Reed told the team he will return for his 11th season.

Part of my mission here at Baltimore Sports Blitz is to bring you the semi-latest in Ravens cornhole coverage (examples: here and here ), even the day after a miserable loss an NFL bottom-feeder. So here is mindless video of Ed Reed and Michael Oher throwing bean bags to distract you from thoughts about Monday night.

We have countless awesome sports photos in the archives here at The Baltimore Sun , and I have decided to share one with you each week in a regular feature called "Throwback Thursday. " Ed Reed has been a popular topic the past 24 hours. One reason is that he said he wants to retire as a member of the Ravens. “I always said I wanted to retire here and play for one organization,” the safety said Wednesday during his football camp , adding that “after the lockout is over and the collective bargaining agreement is done, I'll go back to the table with the Ravens and see what makes sense to them and what makes sense for me.” Since Reed is talking about finishing his career in Baltimore, let's take a look back to when it began.

The 2012-13 Ravens will be well represented Wednesday when the team travels to the White House to be honored by President Barack Obama for its 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3. Linebacker Ray Lewis , who retired following his 17th season in Baltimore, and safety Ed Reed , who signed a free-agent deal with the Houston Texans in March after playing 11 seasons for the Ravens, are both expected to...

When Rep. Chris Van Hollen struck up a conversation recently with a U.S. Capitol Police officer he sees every day on his way to work, he immediately learned two things about the man: He's from Baltimore and he's a huge Ravens fan. And so the Montgomery County Democrat took a break Wednesday from the budget battles playing out in Congress to take Officer Aaron Smith to the White House, where President Barack Obama honored the Super Bowl ...

Joe Flacco is no longer barraged with questions about former offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, finding consistency or even his capability to win the big game. Now the owner of one of the richest contracts in the history of the sport and two weeks away from receiving a sparkling Super Bowl ring, Flacco's status as the Ravens' franchise quarterback will probably never be this secure. Yet as he took the field Tuesday, the 28-year-old felt no different than he did during organized team activities the previous five years.

The Ravens could have as many as seven or eight new starters on defense when the 2013 season begins. You can produce a number of statistics that suggest why they may have felt compelled to overhaul their defense. Here is a good one: The Ravens whiffed on 87 tackles during the 2012 season, according to Football Outsiders. Aaron Schatz, who wrote about broken tackles in this recent post , explained that Football Outsiders define a broken tackle as one of two events: “either the ball-carrier escapes from the grasp of the defender, or the defender is in good position for a tackle but the ball-carrier jukes him out of his shoes.” Schatz added that “if the ball-carrier sped by a slow defender who dived and missed, that didn't count as a broken tackle.” Based on Football Outsiders' charting, done by more than two dozen people, only three NFL teams missed more tackles during the regular season.

I couldn't help but notice a trend with Baltimore's 2013 draft class, especially because Ravens officials made a point to mention to reporters that both of their second-day picks were “red-star” players on their draft board. The Ravens, as much as ever, seemed to put a premium on character when deciding whom to pick this year. “The biggest thing is we have a great understanding of the type of football players that [coach John Harbaugh] wants in his locker room, that he and his coaching staff want to work with,” general manager Ozzie Newsome said Saturday.

On Saturday evening, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked about fourth-round draft pick John Simon, who was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2012. Harbaugh raved about Simon's attitude and work ethic. “I think Urban Meyer has a thing on YouTube -- have you seen it? -- where he talks about John Simon,” Harbaugh said, referencing Meyer's news conference after his Ohio State team narrowly defeated California, 35-28, this past September. “It's worth pulling up and taking a look at it. It probably says it all.” That afternoon, Simon, who was a defensive end for the Buckeyes but will play outside linebacker for the Ravens, was barely able to play because of a shoulder injury.

After leading the NFL in interceptions with eight last season, free safety Ed Reed continued his ball-hawking ways, intercepting Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger twice. It's the 13th time in the seven-time Pro Bowler's career that he had pulled in at least two interceptions in a game, which leads all active players. And Reed did it on his 33rd birthday. “Just winning was enough for me,” said Reed, who is the franchise leader with 56 career interceptions.

I want to express my sincere appreciation to Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens for being a positive role model and representative of the team. I am an active duty Army officer assigned to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. On Sunday, I took my son, an avid Ravens fan, to see Baltimore dominate the St. Louis Rams. I promised my son that we would wait after the game to see the Ravens players and try to get an autograph. While only a few of the Ravens players took the time to talk to the fans, Mr. Reed was the true standout class act!

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome is known for his coolness and he seldom gushes about a draft pick. He got a little excited when the team made UCLA offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden the franchise's first draft pick in 1996, but there wasn't much jubilation when the team selected Ray Lewis, Peter Boulware, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs or Chris McAlister. And then came Thursday night. As members of the Ravens' front-office staff walked to the podium at The Castle to talk about first-round pick Matt Elam, the safety out of Florida, Newsome appeared ecstatic, at least for Newsome.

On Friday night, the Ravens watched the names of linebackers such as Manti Te'o, Kevin Minter and Jonathan Bostic come off the board. Sensing they might not get one of the players they coveted in the first couple of rounds in the draft, they sent two late picks to Seattle to move up six spots and select speedy Arthur Brown. If you've been reading this blog over the past few weeks, you probably know that I like this pick . I wrote about how Brown, who starred at Kansas State, was an intriguing prospect . And you probably also know that I don't think inside linebackers are really valuable unless they can cover well enough to play on all three downs . Well assistant general Eric DeCosta one-upped me just now while explaining why the Ravens wanted Brown.