Unglossy with Bun B, Tom Frank and Jeffrey Sledge
Unglossy is a raw dive into the cultural forces shaping identity, creativity, and influence today. Hosted by legendary rapper, professor and entrepreneur, Bun B, alongside music industry veteran, Jeffrey Sledge and brand and marketing guru, Tom Frank, this is a conversation about cultural impact.
Through real stories and unfiltered dialogue, Unglossy explores how artists, entrepreneurs, and visionaries define themselves, move culture, and build legacy beyond the gloss of hype and headlines.
Tune in to "Unglossy" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you catch your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @UnglossyPod and join the conversation.
Unglossy is produced and distributed by Merrick Studios. Let your story take the mic. Learn more at https://wearemerrickstudios.com
Unglossy with Bun B, Tom Frank and Jeffrey Sledge
Andre Reed: Part 1 – Respect, Resilience, and Results
Bun B makes it official as co-host of Unglossy, and we kick things off with a legend: Buffalo Bills icon and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Andre Reed. From a small-town kid in Allentown, Pennsylvania to four straight Super Bowl appearances and a gold jacket in Canton, Reed’s story is one of grit, growth, and giving back.
In this first part of our two-part conversation, Andre takes us through the real playbook behind his success—relationships, mentorship, and showing up when nobody’s watching. He reflects on the wisdom of his Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy (who just turned 100), weighs in on Micah Parsons’ contract standoff and the high-stakes “game within the game” of NFL negotiations, and breaks down how rule changes like the kickoff shift and the tush push have reshaped football forever.
We dive into what it was like lining up against Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, and Darrell Green, the brutal six-week training camps of the ’80s, and the difference between recovering from injuries then versus now. Beyond the field, Andre shares the roots of his purpose—his years as a Boys & Girls Club kid, the founding of the Andre Reed Foundation, and the legacy he’s building with a park, a street, and a stadium all carrying his name back home.
Four straight Super Bowls, seven Pro Bowls, and zero regrets—because whether or not the scoreboard went his way, the world was watching.
🎙️ Tap in. This is Unglossy.
"Unglossy: Decoding Brand in Culture," is produced and distributed by Merrick Studio and hosted by Bun B, Tom Frank and Jeffrey Sledge. Tune in to hear this thought-provoking discussion on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you catch your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @UnglossyPod to join the conversation and support the show at https://unglossypod.buzzsprout.com/
Last week on Unglossy.
Speaker 2:You ever catch a fly? Yeah, you think you're Mr Miyagi Rob. Yeah, I think I catch them all now.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 1:We're building something special here and I'm excited that you're on board.
Speaker 2:I think we're like-minded people, but I think we have different perspectives. I think we're interested in a lot of the same things. I think we're curious about how different people kind of walk their walk, and I think that we can get some great interviews done because we're going to be thinking similarly but approaching differently. Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:And I think the key word you just said that about all of Merrick Studios is curiosity From the top.
Speaker 2:I'm Tom Frank, I'm Jeffrey Sledge and I'm Bud B. Welcome to Unglossed From the top.
Speaker 3:I'm Tom Frank. I'm Jeffrey Sledge.
Speaker 2:And I'm Bud B, welcome to Unglossed.
Speaker 1:Real stories, unfiltered dialogue and the voices moving culture beyond the gloss of hype and headlines.
Speaker 3:So buckle up.
Speaker 1:Unglossed starts now, First and foremost, we got to welcome officially. Bun B is no longer a guest, but he is the host of Unglassy.
Speaker 2:Thank you, guys. I am so honored to be an official host of Unglassy. As you can see, I got my new backdrop, yep Right, this is my host backdrop, right here. So this is how an office very few people see unless they come into the house. Not that I got nothing to hide, but I don't really have people at my house like that. So my wife is more than enough company for me, my grandkids they keep me busy enough as it is. So I'm really you know, this is a couple of different keepsakes, things from different points of my life. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:But I thought it worked as a backdrop so I wouldn't have to. I don't really like going green screen like I'm like I got a, I got a wall somewhere, right, I got a wall somewhere. So Queen was like just use your office. I was like, oh, yeah, right, that's what that's there for the first place. So, yeah, no, I'm excited to be here. Man, this is my first episode and I can't lie, if this is gonna be my first episode, I'm starting off with a bang.
Speaker 1:I'm starting off with a bang. We are starting off with a bang.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. We are very. I say we just dive in because we have so much to talk to this guy about that we need every minute of this episode to dive in. So today, on Unglossy fellas, we are joined by a true legend.
Speaker 1:This is a Buffalo Bills icon. He's a pro football Hall of Famer. He's a seven-time pro bowler, a four-time Super Bowl contender and one of the toughest wide receivers to ever play the game. His career has been defined by grit, resilience and an unshakable commitment to excellence. But beyond the record books and highlight reels, his story goes way beyond that. It's about giving back. He's the founder of the Andre Reid Foundation, where he's focused on empowering at-risk youth through mentorship, education and character development. He's a champion for literacy, an ambassador for the Boys and Girls Club of America and a firm believer that the next generation deserves a real shot, both on and off the field. From the roar of Archer Park, which I'm going to tomorrow and I'm so excited about, to classrooms and communities across the country, andre Reid continues to lead by example and we are absolutely honored to have him with us to talk football, to talk culture and to talk the future of the game he loves and the impact that he's going to continue to have on the youth. So welcome to Unglossy, mr Andre Reid.
Speaker 4:Thank you, guys. I surely appreciate that introduction, but you know now that I've been out of the game for 25 years now. I can't believe that this is 25 years. It's been that long. Wow, 25 years, wow, 25 years. Yes, I came in the league at 21, and I left the game almost at 38. So I'm 61 now.
Speaker 4:So you know what and Bun can probably attest to this all the things that he's seen in his life, as far as you know, all the things that he's done. You see people, and people have an impact on you and sooner or later you're going to see those people way down the road again. And I tell these young kids in the league that it's important that you develop these relationships right now, especially the young guys, because you never know how long you're going to be in this game. And Bun can tell you that game that he's in is a different game too, and it develops because of your passion. It develops because of your passion. It develops because of people around you.
Speaker 4:My head coach at the Hall of Fame this year just turned 100 years old. Wow, wow. And Marv Levy not only was a mentor of mine, a head coach, but I consider him a family friend, his whole family Just to be there in Canton with him to celebrate 100 years on this planet. Anything 100 years is a blessing, but I know I got off on that because we were just there. But you know what a blessing it's been for me, not only to be able to play this game I love, but to be able to be mentors for the younger generation and the guys after me, because there was guys before me that I loved.
Speaker 4:You know, when I first met Jim Brown, it was like meeting the biggest icon ever, and obviously Jim Brown is the biggest icon. He's like the Michael Jordan of football and a lot of these guys that I've met over the years. I'm like why? Me, you know why am I? This kid from Allentown, pennsylvania, nobody knew nothing about these. Things happen to and if you apply and you're around the right people, there's no doubt that you can grow. And that's, uh, that's what I've done.
Speaker 1:Amazing. It is amazing and I think you hit it right on. Let's start at the beginning. Here you, pennsylvania guy which by the way. I am as well. I am as well. I'm, I'm from.
Speaker 4:I'm from state college, pennsylvania okay, you from the, you from the west, I'm from around philly, allentown bun. You ever been to allentown pa?
Speaker 2:I have not been to allentown, pa. I've sang about allentown with billy joel but I not been to Allentown. That's it, that's it. That's it, billy.
Speaker 4:Joel. Actually, Kevin Hart was performing at the PPL Center a couple years ago. I didn't get to go see him.
Speaker 2:But we'd love to have you perform over there. Bun, for sure hey have rap, will travel.
Speaker 4:And guess what? You were in my Rolodex man. You were in my headphones a lot before games, so I just want you to know that.
Speaker 2:Oh no, look, that was my prime time in those 90, 92, 96, 97. That was my prime time. I didn't wear a lot of starters jackets but I was a big Bruce Smith fan so I had that big bull on my back. But I had to because we lost our team in 96. So I had to because we lost our team in 96. So I had to like adopt. So I couldn't really pick another team, I just kind of went by players I liked.
Speaker 4:Yeah, what do you, what do you like with Houston right now? I mean, is it you? You know Dallas Houston. I mean, which one are you?
Speaker 2:No, I'm Houston for life and right now I think we're in one of the best positions we've ever been as far as being a sports city, because I believe the Astros are perennial playoff contenders, I believe the Texans in their division they're going to always be contenders and I believe now, with Kevin Durant added to the Rockets, we were number two seed last year in the playoffs without him.
Speaker 4:That's right. I completely forgot about that.
Speaker 2:The cost of living. You know the tax situation. Houston is a destination as far as sports right now, so I think we're in a great place. Dallas, by the meanwhile, gave away Luka and got Anthony Edwards Like they've got a lot, and of course they're the home of the Cowboys, so yeah, so they got to figure it out up there and they're about to lose Micah.
Speaker 4:You know what? Here's my take on that Please.
Speaker 1:I want to hear this.
Speaker 4:Here's my take, and I've never met Micah Parsons. I know he went to Penn State, which isn't too far. It's State College, that's right.
Speaker 1:That's right where I'm from.
Speaker 4:Obviously where I'm from. Obviously, Micah Parsons is a once-in-a-generation type of player. Jerry Jones knows that. Don't let him think he don't know. Jerry Jones knows that. But in our game it's all about playing hardball. And playing hardball with you know the player against the owner, against everything else, and it's how you play that game where it's going to benefit you the most. When I came in at 85, there was no game to play. You showed up, that's it. This is what you get, da-da-da-da-da. And then you got to work hard. You still got to do that, but with all the influence. Now, in sports in general, there's a lot of different things going on that could either alter how a team is going to talk to you or not, and it doesn't seem like that really what happened, but what's happening. But that's the game and you've got to play the game. So I think Micah's not going to go nowhere. I'll tell you that.
Speaker 3:Let me ask you this question, andre, about this. I'm talking about this, mike, I think. Now, what do you think? The what's the word? I'm looking for? The leverage, I guess, of the Cowboys letting this drag out this far, like why don't they just work the deal? That's the game.
Speaker 4:That's the game, bro. That's the game they play. Yeah, and again, guys, when I came into the league in 1985, the game was a lot different, just like when Bun came in. What he did before the game was different. And now the game has stepped up because of influences from the outside. And you know, in the rap game and in the football and in the sports world we all go hand in hand. But you know we're like this. Of course we come out of the same community.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so you just got to play your cards. You know it's all about dealing the cards getting the cards you want and the ones you don't want, you throw them back in and you got to play hardball. So my thing on Mike I don't think he's going to go anywhere. It's all rhetoric right now, Jerry Jones either going to put up or shut up before the season starts, and that's, you know, a couple weeks away. But I don't think he's going to go anywhere.
Speaker 5:Are we better? I'm sorry, Tom. No no go ahead, bud how much does, making this a public situation help him.
Speaker 2:Does that even really, if you're saying that all of this stuff is kind of going to play out like it's going to play out? Does making this a public situation even allow him any leverage in this situation?
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, because look at basketball Same thing. There's leverage of all these guys, even though basketball seems like, even though Kevin Durant now is in Houston. But Kevin Durant's been with four or five teams the last five years. It seems like they're always changing, but again they only have 10 players. They don't have 49, 54 guys that they have to deal with every single year, every single day. They're in the building. So it's a give and take game and you got to push, they got to push. You got to push game and you got to push, they got to push, you got to push back, they got to push back.
Speaker 4:We know value. Value is very important, especially in sports the value of this guy right now and down the road. What does he bring to the team? We already know, michael, what he brings to the team. How's he going to make everybody else around him better? We all know that he makes everybody better. Now the negotiations have to play into that of what Jerry wants to do by keeping him. What kind of cap space they've got. All those things factor in. But, like I said, I just think Michael Parsons is not going to go anywhere in Dallas.
Speaker 2:And so four preseason games and week one. Michael Parsons is going to to go anywhere in Dallas. And so four preseason games and week one. Michael Parsons is going to be suited up in that blue and silver. Oh yeah, oh yeah. I don't see how he can't. I don't see how they play. They'd be crazy. I would love to start the season without this guy?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Thanks, man. There's a lot of things that could happen in three weeks or four weeks before the season starts here, in another month from now, but Micah is playing the role the way he should be playing it, and he's waiting for Jerry Jones to make the move.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry. You like Andre's, you like Micah's approach to the negotiations because look at TJ Watt boom.
Speaker 4:Do you like Andre's or Andre's, you like Micah's approach to the negotiations? Because look at TJ Watt Boom. All these other players that got paid that are on the same line and the same athleticism maybe not, they're the same. Tj Watt, micah Parsons who's the other kid that just got paid? And Micah Parsons, he's a three-down guy. He can get down on his arm, he can get down and he can stand up too. He's kind of like if I had to really put him in a category and maybe this is a stretch he's kind of like a young Lawrence Taylor.
Speaker 1:I would kind of agree with that A little bit.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Because LT was on the ground and he stood up. And when he stood up, you better watch out.
Speaker 1:That's right, so do you think this is better for the game today or worse for the game?
Speaker 4:I think it's the way, the game. You can't stop it. Number one you can't stop it because every team is going to do it, every single player that is in the same situation. And then these guys look at each other and what they're doing on their teams and if they're up, then they go. Well, it's always been like that. It's always been like that. What this guy gets, somebody's got to be the benchmark. Right now, tj Watt is the benchmark for guys like Michael Parsons.
Speaker 2:For sure, for sure. How much of this is a shift from your era, like when a guy in your era had a pay discrepancy. What leverage did you guys have back then to try to get to the top? You had your teammates.
Speaker 4:That's one thing you had. Everything else is going to play out the way it should now. Mind you, they had the money back then.
Speaker 2:That they got now the tv, the advertising and all that they didn't have that money they didn't have that money, so somebody got to get paid.
Speaker 4:They got to give that money to somebody. If I were to wish something, I wish I would have been born like 10, 15 years ago. 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I'd be right in the middle of all this stuff right now. But God didn't make it that way. God didn't make it that way. God made me the way I am. I'm kind of glad for that. But again it's just a push and pull. Again it's him with the rope and they're just pushing and pulling. He was going to give up first. Yeah, that's just. Every team has one guy that's like that, especially when they look at other guys at their position and they have to pay somebody. They got to pay him.
Speaker 1:So now, looking at your career, you started at a division two school. How does that? I mean that's a huge. I mean coming from Kutztown to the NFL. Like what was that transition? Like I mean that's that's, you don't see that, yeah Um.
Speaker 3:I used to.
Speaker 4:I tell people I used to go cow tipping. You ever cow tip, bumby, cow tipping right. So all the guys my rookie year I said, yeah, I used to cow tip A couple of my friends from Philly. These dudes never probably saw a cow except in the grocery store. That's the first time they probably never saw a cow sleeping, standing up. So we would go hit them and knock them over and then run. I'm telling you right now, cow can't move. But knock me over when I'm standing up, sleeping. I'm coming after you, that's it. I'm coming after you. But I went to a cow tipping school and it was about 30 minutes from my house because I was really a homebody kid. I loved to be close to home. I was a young kid graduating from high school. I was the youngest kid pretty much in the class graduating and wasn't mature. So it was conducive for me to stay close to the house and you know my mom held me back one year. So I gained a year. Bottom line is it turned out pretty good. So I got lucky for that.
Speaker 1:So you get drafted into the NFL. You show up. I mean, what was that? It had to be kind of a cultural shift for you. You went from a pretty small school to now you're playing for the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 3:Also, what round were you drafted in?
Speaker 2:Fourth round.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 4:So back then they had 12 rounds Bun. Let me tell you, you think the draft is long now A lot of players. Dude, my rookie year, there was 16 receivers in training camp and 22 defensive backs.
Speaker 4:That's a quarter of the team almost all new recruits, just like free agents draft choices. We have 12 rounds. Right, you might have two picks around, so you can at least dude. There was 128 guys on the field, wow. So guess what? Your chances of making a squad have been diminished because of 128 guys just based on numbers, just based on numbers based on numbers. So if you were a free agent, well, you almost have to put wings on and fly to stand out that's a lot of.
Speaker 4:Those guys went on special teams and came down, just gangbusters, just would bust. That's when they used to get the wedge. They can't do that, no more but a wedge. And you would be in, used to get the wedge. They can't do that, no more but a wedge. And you would be in the middle of the wedge and you would just bust heads wide open. Man, that's how you made the team. If you were a free agent, special teams.
Speaker 1:Did you start off on special teams?
Speaker 4:or no? Yeah, I did pump return and started at receiver and I said, yeah, this pump return thing ain't going to do it because nobody was blocking. And I was like bruh, you were killed back there. Yeah, hey, bud, I used to look up and look down and see them coming Nobody blocking. I was like I got to get off of this squad. No way, yeah, I did so. 128 guys and you might have had two or three chances to catch a ball To get your spot To show you were in the spot, yes, wow.
Speaker 3:So, andre, tell us a little bit Yep and training camp. That's what I was going to ask you. Tell us a little bit about that training camp.
Speaker 4:That's what I was going to ask. Tell us a little bit about that training camp. Training camp was six weeks long. Two days pads, damn.
Speaker 1:Much different today.
Speaker 4:These guys just got there and they already left, that's true, they can't even get a rhythm going, Like they just show up and say what's up, we're going to be here for a minute and then we out.
Speaker 1:Wow, Crazy man. So, why is that? Why did it change?
Speaker 4:Is it the players? Just like I'm not doing this anymore. I think the Players Association had a lot to do with things that happened years ago. A couple guys actually one guy, corey Stringer I don't know if you remember Corey Stringer uh, went to Ohio state big offensive lineman. He died.
Speaker 1:I do remember that.
Speaker 4:He died during training camp heat exhaustion, wow, so they cut all. They cut all the two days out. And um, it's not that they didn't cut the two days out, they cut the pads out. So these guys have shells now. I mean, they're in pads every now and again, but they're not in pads like they were when I played bro.
Speaker 2:No, not down here. It's 93 degrees outside. They ain't giving it that.
Speaker 4:If you were in Houston or New Orleans, they find you floating down the Mississippi River. So it was brutal, but for every person, for everything that happens, that's good. Somebody made it good for them. Somebody made it good for them, so yeah, All right, so we got to dive into.
Speaker 1:I think if you're a football fan or not, the one thing you do know is the Buffalo Bills went to four straight Super Bowls Unheard of Unheard of Never happened again.
Speaker 4:Why not? That's a good question, because we could sit here till next week, Bun, and I could tell you. I just think number one the way the game is, you look at how there's a different rule change every year the kickoff thing I can't even understand that. I don't understand that. So guys like Devin Hester, who just got in the Hall of Fame two years ago, you'll never see a Devin Hester ever again in the NFL as long as they have that kind of rule on kickoff, on kickoffs, Is that?
Speaker 1:rule here to stay.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Definitely.
Speaker 2:So that stays, so that, and the tush push stays, I don't even know what that is, man.
Speaker 4:I can't understand that. When I first saw that, I was like we got 11 grown men against 11 other grown men, and even to play you should get a yard.
Speaker 1:It's rugby.
Speaker 4:If you don't get your.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go ahead, bud. No, I was saying Tom's absolutely right, I was going to say the same thing. You're pretty much playing rugby out there at that point.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and there's a rugby. There's a pro rugby team here called the Legion and I go to some of the games and basically when they get in them, scrums that's what a tush push is. So I don't know if they have outlawed it or they just nixed it or not, because I know a couple players See what they do. When you get in the training camp they have different rules and it's not that you vote on them, but you kind of give your opinion on what these rules mean to you. Like, should the NFL have these rules? Because when I played there were no rules. You know some of the rules they have with the quarterback and the defenseless receivers. Ronnie Lott was not going for that. Y'all remember Ronnie Lott. He cut his finger off the play.
Speaker 2:Bun you ever hear that I did? I love to rap, but I'm gonna eat these things.
Speaker 4:Yes. So he got his finger stuck in the helmet this part of his finger and it was almost coming off and he went into the locker room and said just cut it off. And he went back out there and played.
Speaker 2:I got a pretty decent pain tolerance. I don't know if it's cut off piece of my finger.
Speaker 1:You wouldn't cut a finger off to go back.
Speaker 2:I'll perform with like a fractured elbow. You know what I'm saying? I got a couple of box of fractures on my hands from fighting things that don't fight back. But that's another day, dude. Hey, you can't even cut a record with that finger. No, sir, I lose my dexterity grabbing the microphone without the pinky.
Speaker 1:And we'll be right back.
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Speaker 4:So, these rule changes every year. Yes, they make it better for the game, but thank you, no, thank you for what you did for guys 20 years before that they used to kill quarterbacks.
Speaker 2:But you think they're. They're behind the ball on some of this stuff a very, very not in.
Speaker 4:They're not even in the same vicinity. So you look at tom brady. He played 20 years in the NFL, greatest quarterback ever, seven Super Bowls. You know resume out, you know whatever. When's the last time when Tom Brady played? Somebody actually tattooed him.
Speaker 2:Nobody, nobody did?
Speaker 4:They changed the rule.
Speaker 5:The last person that they changed the rule.
Speaker 4:They changed the rule Because of the last time somebody tattooed him, that's right. So guess who tattooed him? He that's right. So guess who tattooed him? He played for the Bills. Nate Clemens Went to Ohio State. Brady comes around the corner and Nate Clemens almost decapitated him. His helmet came off I thought it was his head, jesus and you couldn't touch Tom Brady with a 50-foot pole after that Guess what? You got fined.
Speaker 2:You got fined, and so that was basically sending a message, more than anything.
Speaker 4:Yep, because Tom Brady, when he comes in the stadium just like Michael Jordan brings money brings dollars.
Speaker 2:So even if they're not scripting games which a lot of these younger kids like to say they're scripting these sports outcomes there's still some type of way where they have to interject in the flow of the game and be like you can't do it like this.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, you just can't play this game like this right now, Really subtly though, so you can't see. Yeah, it's kind of like the guy that played the game like me can see it.
Speaker 2:When did the quarterback become the most important player on the field? Because I feel like that's where the shift comes in.
Speaker 4:Yeah, exactly because you build from the outside in, you get the quarterback first. Every team in the NFL that has a good quarterback Mahomes, josh Allen, burrow, lamar, herbert Lamar you build around them, you get a good receiver one or two, you get a good running back and you get a good receiver one or two. You get a good running back and you get a good defense behind that and your team can go to it. Just so happens, the Kansas City Chiefs have gone to the Super Bowl so many times over the last seven years because of coaching. Number one Andy Reid is a heck of a coach. Are they as talented as every other team in the league? In a way they are are, but they make it work because that, because the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams guy knows how to work with the head coach. That's number one. They're on the same page. If one's off the page, you better jump back on. They work together like that. That's why kansas city wins and mahomes. He's a heck of a quarterback too.
Speaker 4:Good you gotta have that guy to start. If you don't have him, you're not going anywhere. I don't care how good your defense is, because they're gonna get tired sooner or later right, yeah that was our problem for a while.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm saying we had a great defense but they were too tired because our quarterbacks could not get it done. We didn't really have anybody that could be put a couple of consistent wins together until really sharp, you know.
Speaker 5:But then at that point we didn't. I love seeing that, but we didn't have an O-line.
Speaker 2:That became the problem.
Speaker 4:See you need. Now. The first thing you do is you get the quarterback and then you get a left tackle. You got to get the guy that protects his blind side. You get that guy. That's why every team has a big old boy at left tackle.
Speaker 2:We had Dwayne Brown, I think, for a couple years Dwayne Brown was awesome.
Speaker 4:We had a guy named Howard Ballard back in the day. Howard went to HBCU school and he was 6'6" 350 on a good day.
Speaker 2:That's a lot of man boss.
Speaker 4:Can you imagine, bro? It was like trying to get around the building. You know the building you're in right now. It's like trying to run around that and get somebody on the other side before he runs 6'6" 350.
Speaker 1:To your team, right? I want to get back to the Super Bowl thing. Okay, when you look at when people talk about the best teams to ever be in the NFL.
Speaker 4:They don't put us in there.
Speaker 1:They don't put you in there. Where do you think you should sit in there? You didn't win a Super Bowl, but you went to four straight Super Bowls.
Speaker 4:So, yeah, us, the Vikings right, the Vikings playing four didn't win. But what was everybody doing during that time? They were watching me on TV Four straight years.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah. Yes, I got a Hall of Fame ring. I don't have a Super Bowl ring. It just wasn't meant to be. But I'm not going to let somebody else tell me that my career or what I did or what our teams did didn't mean anything because we didn't win. Yeah, that's the main thing, that's what you go play the game for. But you were sitting down eating your Cheetos, drinking your beer, whatever you were doing watching me.
Speaker 3:True.
Speaker 2:So guess what? Whether or not you thought your team was better than my team, exactly. So guess who wins.
Speaker 3:You're right.
Speaker 2:Look everybody, if you know, we come from the music industry. Thousands of albums get made all the time but only a couple of people get nominated for the Grammy. It all said that everybody else sit at home and watch me in my tuxedo. Clap with somebody else, win, but you still watch me.
Speaker 3:I was in the building, you watch me, I love that in the building.
Speaker 2:You're still watching me. I love that analogy, bro.
Speaker 4:I love that and it's funny because when I retired people were still, you know, the Internet is undefeated, bun, you know that they undefeated. So people are going to say stuff about you and I don't like to get in them kind of wars because I just don't like to do that as much as I want to. My wife is like, don't say nothing back and I'm just like, yeah, they say it because they do it behind closed doors and all that. But I have no regrets, zero regrets. I'm a kid from a small town that wasn't supposed to be anything. Why am I worried about what this dude thinks? Because he was watching me drinking beer with a fat stomach. Why should that guy bother me?
Speaker 2:That's true, I know that's right.
Speaker 4:So I played with some of the greatest players. I played with seven other Hall of Famers.
Speaker 1:Wow, there were seven Hall of Famers from that team.
Speaker 4:Seven If we were that bad, none of us would be Hall of Famers. Wow, there were seven Hall of Famers from that team Seven. If we were that bad, none of us would be Hall of Famers Facts.
Speaker 2:That's perspective right there.
Speaker 1:That is perspective. Yeah, None of us would be. How close are you to those guys to this day?
Speaker 4:Really close. I just saw all of them in Canton last week. Big shout out to Sterling Sharp, who I had plenty of battles against in Green Bay, jared Allen, eric Allen and Antonio Gates, so they went in this year.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:What a great thing, man, just to be there. And again, when I put that gold jacket on guys, it's like going up for the Grammy.
Speaker 2:That's crazy. Even if you don't win Like that's a little acknowledgement Even without the Super Bowls, even without the trophies and all of that, you played the game at the highest level against people playing at the highest level. That's right.
Speaker 4:And when I get accolades from my peers, I don't care less what anybody else over there says. And Deion Sanders gave me one of the greatest accolades a couple years ago when he was on a podcast. They asked him who the toughest receivers were he ever played against, wow, and he mentioned me and I was just blown away because when they asked me who was the toughest defensive back ever went against and I got a bunch of them. But deon, rod woodson, daryl green these guys are all in the hall of fame yeah that's true.
Speaker 4:I was not gonna get to, I was not gonna get the fourth corner corner on me. Every game I'm getting their best guy.
Speaker 2:They're trying to have you out on the island out there. Oh yeah, Me against.
Speaker 4:Deion. What do I got? So that's how I put things in perspective. When people say things like that, to a certain point you can go on the Internet and find out what I did. I don't need to brag on. Look at all the albums Albums, some of them songs. I'd still be bumping them. Songs, yeah, heck, yeah, I'd be bumping them.
Speaker 2:I got the nomination, but I ain't got the trophy. I got the little medal Guess what. I got the little participation, but I ain't got the trophy. I got the little medal Guess what. I got the little participation medal, right there. Let me tell you something Let me tell you something.
Speaker 3:It'd take everything to get that.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 4:It'd take everything to get that, and guess what? Only you know. Only you know that. So if somebody wants to you about it, get in my shoes and see how that feels. Since you ain't in my shoes, you don't have no idea how that feels. So, uh, you need to. You know, move on with it. So I don't, I don't. Um, oh yeah, bumby was always up in mind.
Speaker 3:Andre. Like Andre when you so when you're considering for a game to go up against Dion. What's that? Like best against the best?
Speaker 4:It's hard to find little small intricacies on a person of that stature, but whatever I did find, I tried to exploit it as much as I can. I was a pretty good guy at watching film. You know I watch film a lot because, obviously, against those guys as much as I can. I was a pretty good guy at watching film. You know I watch film a lot because obviously, against those guys, you got to be 100% on point and you got to try to find something that they do they don't do as well, they don't do well, and that's hard to find on a guy like Dion or Rod or Daryl Green. So it was always a battle. I loved it. That's just what competition is about. To me, the three probably greatest corners that I ever played against was those three guys. But you had to do your studying, man, you know, and you had to do. You had to put in the work and I always thought that if I did put in a work that I had an edge.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, I want to shift gears a little bit, because a lot of guys retire and, who knows, some of them struggle with it, a game that you love. Then all of a sudden you're not playing anymore. What's that? What was that transition? Like going from being the guy to now like being kind of a normal guy.
Speaker 4:Who's? I played 31 years of football guys. 31 years from seven years old till I was 38. So every year, every fall, it was putting the pads on, getting ready to go. It was hard because that's you know, it's like anything you do in life. You're so used to it that it just became second nature. But when it was over it was a big shock.
Speaker 4:You know to say, any guy that played as long as I did when it just abruptly stops like that, okay, you're not going to Camp United to say that they're oh yeah, I'm good they're lying, because it's kind of embedded in you, it's part of your DNA. It's part of your DNA. It's part of your DNA. It was part of my DNA when I came out the womb to be a football player and I was fortunate enough to play as long as I did. God gave me that you know the grace to play that long.
Speaker 4:And you know I turned every stone over, I crossed every T, I dotted every I, um and um and I got lucky. You know I missed 11 games in those 17 years. Wow, wow so, and I wouldn't have missed them, but I got. I got, uh, kind of folded a little bit and tore my groin and did a lot of that almost. Yeah, it was a really bad injury, but I came back the following year and finished out you. I was not going to let that, to a certain point, be my demise, but yeah, I just I would just say guys, I got, I got pretty lucky, yeah, got pretty lucky to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, from that position, to have that few, to have missed that few games is insane, because that's literally one of the most unprotected areas of football. For your position.
Speaker 4:It is fun it is. There was no protection on the receivers. There's really no protection on quarterbacks. It was like a free run most of the time. Guys like Ronnie and I talked about Ronnie, steve Atwater I don't know if you remember Steve Atwater hell yeah, six, six, three, two, twenty, coming downhill from about 15 yards to disenlage your head from your body and then before me you know guys like Jack Tatum and those kind of guys. I mean there was no rules. So basically you're kind of a battering ram, but I was blessed to play as long as I did and not be injured that much. That's insane Because one guy you know guys nowadays that get the injury bug you guys ever hear of the injury bug? Yeah, so they get one injury and it just injury after injury. It just sticks with them. You just can't get away from being in the tank. I was fortunate enough not to have that injury bug.
Speaker 2:I keep hearing about conditioning, like off-season conditioning. Oh yeah, is that something that can kind of stave off that kind of? Let me ask you this Are guys purposely and consciously leaving rehab early to get back in the game? I mean, maybe now the medicine is advanced enough where they don't have to, but from your era, right Like, a guy probably needs four or five weeks of rehab to really get that knee or that hip back right, but he's, like I got to get back in this game and start playing yeah, well, you know guys that tear their knees up.
Speaker 4:They come back the same year because of technology. You tore your knee up when I played. Most of the time, you're done. You're done for the year. I mean rod woodson to talk about rod a couple uh, during his playing days he was playing in the first game against Detroit and he was trying to tackle Barry Sanders that's like good luck with that Right and his foot got caught in the turf and he tore his knee ACL injury Supposed to be out the whole year. He played in the Super Bowl that year against the Cowboys. Supposed to be out the whole year. He played in the Super Bowl that year against the Cowboys. So that was kind of like state of the art for a guy coming back the same year to play in the Super Bowl. Now these guys can come back and play. Look at Aaron Rodgers two years ago tore his Achilles. Dude, you an Achilles, and he's what? 37, 37, he was 37 years old. You don't come back from that. You done that's it.
Speaker 2:That's what I was going to say, like and to be fair, you know, obviously I would imagine the average nfl athlete is more physically fit than the average guy walking around working a nine to five, but at that age your body doesn't react the same way. You don't rebound like that.
Speaker 4:It doesn't heal. It doesn't heal that way at that age. But again, technology. I never thought that Aaron Rodgers would come back after blowing his Achilles. I saw that on Monday Night Football, I remember watching that. For a 38, 37-year-old man. Dude, sit it down, You're done and he's playing. And he's still playing. Yeah, he's starting, yeah, so I'm like. So when I came in, lee, you told your Achilles you were out for the year and that could be career ending.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And in basketball it still could be a year yeah it's more prevalent in basketball than in football.
Speaker 4:You got them tall lanky guys.
Speaker 3:Didn't.
Speaker 4:Kevin Durant do it. He tore his Achilles right. Who just?
Speaker 1:did it this past year. There was a number of guys who did it this year Alliburton.
Speaker 5:Yeah, jason Tatum, and.
Speaker 1:Tatum.
Speaker 2:Somebody from the Celtics right Jason Tatum.
Speaker 4:Jason Tatum, jason Tatum so you got basketball guys that are 6'8, 6'9. That Achilles is elongated even a little more. The elasticity of it is not as as a guy that's 6'1 or 6'2, you're 6'8, 6'9.
Speaker 3:Kevin Durant's what 6'11, six, nine. Yeah, he's seven feet Six eleven, six, ten Dude.
Speaker 4:His Achilles tendon is longer than some people. How tall they are In my leg, yeah. So that thing without the right thing, without the right stuff that he's supposed to be doing with it. Not saying he wasn't supposed to be the stuff he was doing. All that takes is a quick movement, boom, he's done. And that's what happened to Tatum, that's what happened to Halliburton, all those guys.
Speaker 3:Kobe yeah.
Speaker 4:And Kobe too. Happened to Kobe.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 4:So it's a real unfortunate injury, but these guys can come back from all their knees and their Achilles. And I separated my shoulder one year, never got surgery. I came back in three weeks. Shouldn't have did that, but I did. Oh, I hit it, I fell on top of it, felt like somebody just took their foot and just continuously kicked me in the shoulder for about 10 minutes. For about 10 minutes. God, it hurt so bad and I'm out there trying to play and I played, but that was probably the wrong thing to do Wait with a shoulder injury.
Speaker 4:Yeah, this thing was sticking up like that. It was up there.
Speaker 2:You have no range. You're losing more than 50% of your range, because not only can you if it's your left shoulder, not only can you if it's your left shoulder, not only can you not go left, you can only go so far to the right.
Speaker 4:Not only that, bro. It felt like this was on a string and somebody could have took my arm and pushed it down, and it would have just went like that. It was fun.
Speaker 1:So I don't know Right hand. He can catch with his right hand Exactly All right. So I got to ask you about Buffalo. You are still the king of Buffalo. You were a big part of that community. You started the Andre Reed Foundation. Tell us a little bit about that and the work that the foundation does. I wasn't and you guys were boys and girls club kids?
Speaker 4:I was not. I was a Boys and Girls Club kid from age 7 to 16, so 7 to almost 10 years I was a Boys and Girls Club kid. Every day after school I would go by the Boys and Girls Club. What I was taught at home was taught differently in the Boys and Girls Club because of all the different kids. Didn't matter what color you were, didn't matter what you had you were treated the same. I credit them because without them I wouldn't be talking to you guys, Because they taught me a lot about life. They taught me a lot about respect. They taught me about things like you know never burn a bridge, because sooner or later you have to cross that same bridge. And all the mentors and all the people that were in my life most of them were Boys and Girls Club, like volunteers, and they were so instrumental in my life that in 2015, I got inducted into the Boys and Girls Club Alumni Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 4:Without that, I don't make the Pro Football Hall of Fame and six other Hall of Fames without the Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame Wow. So they were so important in my life, they saved my life, put it that way. Way because I wasn't supposed to be anything. I was destined not to be definitely not be a professional athlete, there's no way. But I had the right people around me. That showed me how important hard work is. That showed me that you gotta work hard for what you want. You're not going to get it right away, but there's a process you go through to get what you want in life. There's not too many people that just show up and get something and then they leave and it's like, okay, I'm good. No, it doesn't happen that way. You got to work hard. And that's what I try to tell these kids when I talk to them. You got to work hard.
Speaker 4:And that's what I try to tell these kids when I talk to them that my plight was synonymous with how I was taught in the Boys and Girls Club, what my parents taught me and the big word respect. And I think the word respect goes every single day in your life. Every single day in your life. There's a respect factor you have to have and our kids nowadays don't know what that means. A lot of them don't know what respect means, so I'm here to tell them what it means. It's the bottom line. We all know our respect factor, what we do, and I was taught that. So that's what I try to tell these kids. Man and I've spoken to kids from alaska all the way down to florida about it, um, and I've been blessed and that's why I'm a club kid and I always will be a club kid but you're still giving back to allentown as well.
Speaker 2:Like I see you have park in allentown. First of all, you know I commend you on that because I've been trying to figure out how to get Chad Pipsy a park or something named. Jeff actually spoke at his funeral and told the mayor we've had three other mayors since then, jeff, but we still don't have it.
Speaker 2:Still don't have it, but you have a park and not only do you have a park, but your park is available for the youth as well. In terms of sports engagement, it's a do you have a park, but your park is available for the youth as well. In terms of, yes, sports engagement, it's a multi-faceted type of park.
Speaker 4:Tell me about that a little bit, and the park is right across the street from my high school, which they named the street after me, so it's andre reed way, wow Way. And Andre Reed Park on the same street.
Speaker 2:That's amazing, that's legacy.
Speaker 4:So the 15-year-old me in high school or at high school standing out there. If somebody told me you know, in 25, 30 years from now they're going to rename this street after you and that park is going to be renamed after you, I'd have been like who? Who are you talking about Me? No way, it just. It just goes to show you that the people in your life are so important. Have the right people in your life that show you the right way. And our kids nowadays don't have the right people in their life and they're not going out to you know, they're not going out to find the people. So you got to go find the people that make you better, that make you more than you think you are, in a positive way. So seven other Hall of Fames, a stadium, my college stadium is named after me. That's right. My high school field, the street and the park From a kid.
Speaker 4:That wasn't supposed to be, Jack wasn't supposed to be anything.
Speaker 2:My friend it's an amazing, lasting legacy to you, for sure.
Speaker 4:So that will be there forever for the next generations and generations, and generations to inspire them to be great, to be respectful and do for others.
Speaker 2:That's what that means. I got to start working harder. No, you don't, bud. I thought I put enough work in to get a park. I thought we put enough in to get a UGK park. So let me get back on the clock.
Speaker 3:It also shows, how obviously how people look at you and respect your journey and respect what you've done and know that putting your name on these type of monuments is a good thing, because you're going to do your part to uphold that your name. It's not like why are we naming after him and he's doing this, and that, of course, it shows that you're like a solid, for lack of a better term just a solid person who gives back to the community.
Speaker 4:That's amazing man, seriously, and when I go to the hall every year, when I put on that yellow jacket not going to lie to you y'all I'm a little different person when I'm around all the Hall of Famers, Just a little bit different Right from the start. I'm amongst greatness 120 guys whose journeys maybe have been similar, maybe not, but we all went through something to get to that point. Bun, you went through a lot to get to your point, Absolutely. You went through adversity. You went through people saying this and people saying that and whatever.
Speaker 2:You just button the lip and you go about your business. Then what? No, I love it. That's the kind of way I was raised. Like you know, I grew up in a generation where men got up, they went, did their job, they came home. They didn't expect to be patted on the back. You know, it's not going to be a parade of people when you get on for work.
Speaker 4:You just did what you were supposed to do you know what you're supposed to do and it doesn't go unnoticed. Right, I think it sometimes goes. It doesn't go unnoticed because there's going to be a kid or two or maybe three, four, ten, fifteen come up to me and say I remember what you said to me in the boys and girls club in kansas city, or I remember what you said to me in new y or Philadelphia or Miami, or in the Midwest, in Chicago. I remember that and I want to thank you for that. Guess what my job is done.
Speaker 2:It was done. It's crazy because sometimes you don't even you may not remember exactly what you said, you may not remember the actual interaction. But you know the intention that you walk around in this world with.
Speaker 5:Even if I don't remember it.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure this kid isn't lying. I'm pretty sure this kid came up to me at that point in my life. I was of the frame of mind to give him something to grow on. That's it.
Speaker 4:That's what God wants us to do. Are we perfect? Ain't nobody perfect? He's perfect up there. He's the only perfect. But you can go by what he says and what he guides you to.
Speaker 1:That was part one of our conversation with the legendary Andre Reid. We'll be back next week with part two. Until then, follow the show on Instagram at unglossypod, and leave us a comment. Subscribe to Unglossy on Apple, spotify, youtube or wherever you catch your podcasts. Unglossy is hosted by Bun B, jeffrey Sledge and Tom Frank. It is produced and distributed by Merrick Studios.
