It took nine nominations before Reed was elected to the Hall.
On Saturday night, Tim Brown hopes to be named a Hall of Famer after six appearances on the list of finalists. If there is anyone who knows how that wait feels, it's Andre Reed, who was named to the Hall last year after his ninth nomination.
"I couldn't even tell you. I don't know why," Reed said, when I asked why wide receivers have a tough time getting in. "There are so many of us that are deserving. As a wide receiver you have to look at numbers, you have to look at all different kinds of stuff. I don't know why it's so hard — we kind of get a bad rap. I hope it changes."
Reed admitted that wide receivers, perhaps more than any other position, depend on teammates to help them reach Hall of Fame numbers.
"I think it's the quarterback and also the offensive coordinator," he said, candidly. "If the offensive coordinator doesn't put the player in the right position to succeed, it doesn't matter. You're only as good as the offense your coordinator is running. The game has changed a lot over the years and it's now a passing league and more guys are catching more balls. One thousand catches means a lot, but it's not really a deciding factor on whether a guy is a Hall of Famer or not."
The seven-time Pro-Bowler ended his career with 951 catches, just short of that 1,000-catch milestone he mentioned, but Reed says that other factors helped him, and hopes that voters consider the whole picture when it comes to electing inductees.
"Yes, you gotta have the numbers," he said. "But were you a team player? Were you a leader in the locker room? Were you good with the media? There are all of these other factors that need to get looked at."
As Reed brings up media relations during Super Bowl week, the obvious example is Marshawn Lynch, who has made it clear that media just isn't his thing. Reed thinks that may hurt the Seahawk's chances come Hall of Fame time.
"I don't think Marshawn even cares about that, to be honest," he said. "And when he's up for the Hall, whenever that is, maybe when he's done playing he'll think about it. Because you're going to regret some of the things that you did. Randy Moss was really bad with the media, and he regrets a lot of it. [Terrell Owens] probably regrets a lot of stuff that he did."
As for what it's like to wait so long to wear the gold jacket and that fancy ring, Reed says there's a bit of politics involved.
"I understood the process after three or four years," he admitted. "There's a pecking order. And when you heard, "Well this guy has to get in before this guy and that guy," that's really how it is."
Brown has waited six rounds to be named "that guy," and Reed believes there won't be a seventh.
"I love his chances," he said with excitement. "He deserves to get in so bad. He's the next guy, like I was, just waiting, waiting, waiting."
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