Jeff Reed (American football)

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Reed graduated from East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1997. While there, Reed was captain of the soccer team and kicker for the football team. He was a letterman in both sports. His senior year the soccer team went to the state finals but lost, 2–1. During his senior year, Reed kicked a 54-yard field goal, the second longest in North Carolina history, against Providence High School, setting a new school record. In football, he won All-Conference and All-County honors.

Reed was involved in the school newspaper, National Honor Society, and the Spanish National Honor Society. He graduated 9th in his class out of 365.

In the Spring 2005, Reed was added to the East Mecklenburg Wall of Fame.

Reed attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he majored in journalism and played college football. He had never kicked in a college game until the 2000 season, but he emerged as one of the most consistent kickers (and punter) in the country. He was an honorable mention All-ACC pick as a senior and a second-team All-ACC player as a junior. He entered the 2000 season as a walk-on, but he earned a scholarship after connecting on 28-of-36 field goal attempts and 66-of-67 extra points. His 66 consecutive PATs set a UNC record. He was one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, which is given annually to the nation's top kicker. Reed was first-team Academic All-ACC.

While at UNC, Reed was teammates with running back Willie Parker, his future teammate with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Reed's father, Morris, played basketball for Wichita State and his mother, Pam, was a cheerleader for Wichita State. His sister, Kristen, played soccer at UNC Charlotte and one year professionally for the Carolina Speed.

Reed does charity work with "Kick For Kids," which donates $300 for every field goal he makes. Reed is involved in Junior Achievement, does commercials for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and helped a family raise money for a 5-year-old who had a brain tumor.[9]

Reed is known to be eccentric.[10] This has included instances of Reed bleaching his hair and letting it grow out, as well as wearing fuchsia clothing to match his girlfriend's outfit for the team's annual fashion show to raise money for breast cancer awareness.[11] One year for training camp, Reed voluntarily carried around a pink backpack since the team had no rookies on special teams, who would usually carry around the backpack.[12]

While in Pittsburgh, Reed was frequently seen in section C27 of Pittsburgh Penguins games when the Penguins played in Mellon Arena. After the Steelers' win in Super Bowl XLIII, Reed dropped the ceremonial first puck at the Penguins-Tampa Bay Lightning game on February 4, 2009.[13] For the occasion, he wore a rare gold throwback Sunday Mario Lemieux jersey from the mid-1980s.

Reed was cited by police on the night of February 14, 2009, for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief for destroying a paper towel holder in a bathroom at a Sheetz convenience store in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania.[14] Reed was reportedly angry that the men's restroom was out of paper towels. He pleaded guilty to the two summary offenses and was fined $543.50.[15]

Reed was cited again for public intoxication and disorderly conduct related charges on October 18, 2009, hours after the team defeated the Cleveland Browns. The incident occurred when tight end Matt Spaeth was cited for urinating in public, and Reed refused to comply with police orders to go back inside his SUV. He later apologized to his team for his conduct.[16][17]

Reed currently hosts a Saturday morning talk show on WZGV-AM in Charlotte.[18]

• Pittsburgh Steelers bio
• North Carolina Tar Heels football bio