Jarran Reed remains Seahawks defense’s lead voice

SAN FRANCISCO — Jarran Reed wanted everyone out of his way.

The veteran defensive lineman cradled the George Halas Trophy in his left hand and proudly puffed on a cigar in his right while barking commands from a spot he has owned all season: the center of the defense.

Inside the Lumen Field locker room after the Seattle Seahawks clinched a trip to Super Bowl 60 with a 31-27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC title game, the defense attempted to huddle up for a group photo. Reed briefly delayed the picture, instructing teammates to step aside so that team photographer Rod Mar could snap shots of him alone with the trophy.

Reed’s teammates followed his directive. Mar did, too. Watching the 33-year-old’s command of the huddle in that moment evoked an offseason conversation during which Reed stated his place among the defense’s ranks.

“We’re all dogs, man,” he said in June. “But, you know, I’m the biggest dog on the yard.”

The moment was also emblematic of a theme that has held true throughout the season and helped the Seahawks’ defense become the league’s best, on the brink of a world championship.

When Reed speaks, his teammates listen.

“He’s kind of like the heartbeat of our team to a certain extent, especially on defense,” coach Mike Macdonald said. “Just an emotional leader. Sets the tone every day. When you have a guy that’s been around for this long, and he operates the way he does, just sets a great example for the rest of the team.”

Reed is the only player on the active roster to have played beside the Legion of Boom defense (cornerback Shaquill Griffin, who has been on the practice squad all season, also played with them as a rookie in 2017).

A second-round draft pick out of Alabama in 2016, Reed was schooled for years by veteran defensive ends Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett, members of Seattle’s only Super Bowl-winning team. Reed was a young pup back then, following the lead of the big dogs who contributed to a championship. His vets were serious about their craft, pushed their teammates in practice, set the tone when necessary and took care of the young guys.

Reed carries those same principles (he has also borrowed Bennett’s hip-thrusting sack dance in recent years). Since returning to Seattle in 2023 following two seasons away, he has been mentoring the team’s young defensive linemen. Reed learned early from Bennett and Avril that mentorship is part of the job when you’re a Seahawks veteran.

“Those two guys helped me grow to where I’m at now and prepared me for this moment,” Reed said at Super Bowl opening night. “I seen them last week at the NFC Championship Game, and it was like a full-circle moment. They just told me how proud they were of me, especially being one of the leaders on the team now.”

Seattle’s defense in Legion of Boom days had a clearly defined style of play. Reed has enjoyed seeing it return under Macdonald. Reed spent the summer gushing about this defense bringing back tough, hard-nosed football. He believed that would be the key to building a championship defense, which makes sense given the lessons he learned from his first couple of years in the league.

During a conversation on the sideline at training camp, Reed turned to former teammate Richard Sherman, the Legion of Boom’s spokesman in his heyday, and said, “We bringing physicality back, for real.” Macdonald’s scheme is great, but it’s the toughness and attitude of the coach’s philosophy that gave Reed so much confidence that they were building something special. He knows what “grown man” football looks like and believed that’s what the Seahawks would put on the field this season.

And just to make sure they stay true to that identity, Reed gathers the team every week and delivers an impassioned pregame message. He mixes up the wording depending on the game, the opponent, the setting and other factors, but the gist is always the same: run, hit and play physical football.

There are other players capable of firing up the squad before games. All-Pro inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV, for example, is someone whose words resonate with everyone. But when it comes to ensuring everyone is in the right frame of mind just before kickoff, no one can rally the troops like Reed.

“Nobody else wants to speak before the game,” Jones said. “That’s him. We feed off his energy, his emotion. The team plays a lot like how he speaks to us. And then his play in general, man. He’s a dog.”

The Seahawks love Reed. They re-signed him to a three-year deal worth $22 million in March because his bite is just as vicious as his bark. They knew they’d lean more on defensive tackles Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II, a first-round pick in 2024, for production. But bringing Reed back was a message to the locker room that the front office was serious about handling unfinished business from 2024. Seattle’s attitude up front on defense comes from Reed, a 6-foot-3, 315-pound defender who loves the dirty work in the trenches.

“He’s definitely one of those guys at the forefront of the pack, who’s leading and hunting,” outside linebacker Derick Hall said. “A guy who talks about it but also be about it, man. J-Reed is one of those guys who leads.

“He’s been in this league a long time, and you’re not here for an extended amount of time like that without having some success and doing things the right way.”

Reed is playing about nine fewer snaps per game than last season, as Murphy has taken a more prominent role. But outside of Reid’s 10.5-sack season in 2018, statistics have never properly measured his impact. Seattle wouldn’t be such an excellent short-yardage team without Reed’s presence. The defense wouldn’t have so many opportunities to rush the passer on third down if someone like Reed wasn’t bottling offenses up on first and second down. The box score can’t always capture 315-pound tone-setters.

Knowing they can count on a certain level of physicality from one of their generals makes his pregame speeches hit even harder.

“The ways he goes about speaking, man, it’s great,” Hall said. “He shares powerful messages all the time. And I think he gets guys ready to go and ready to be successful on Sunday. It’s hard not to follow someone who’s like that.”

Reed is also carrying the flag for a trio of Seahawks defenders who played together during the time between the L.O.B. and the M.O.B. eras. Griffin (2017-20) and safety Quandre Diggs (2019-23) played with Reed for multiple seasons on defenses that were anywhere from decent to disastrous. Their last season together was 2020, which ended with a loss to the Rams in the wild-card playoffs.

Reed, Griffin and Diggs all have connections with the previous era of Seahawks defense. Reed has close relationships with Bennett and Avril. Griffin played with Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas for half of the 2017 season. Diggs didn’t arrive until midway through the 2019 season but shares an agent (David Mulugheta) and alma mater (Texas) with Thomas, a fellow Texas native. Diggs’ arrival in 2019 transformed the Seattle defense, and he went on to make three straight Pro Bowls, carrying on the legacy of Thomas as a dominant free safety.

Griffin, 30, has been with the team all season. Diggs, 33, joined in November. Neither has been active during the playoffs, and it is unlikely they’ll be active for the Super Bowl. But they’re enjoying every minute of this ride, and they’re glad someone like Reed gets to participate.

In the moments after Seattle clinched a Super Bowl berth, Griffin embraced Reed on the field and said, “Appreciate you, boy.” Reed, overcome with emotion, hugged his teammate and said, “Ten years. Ten years, man.”

Reed was then shown on camera holding back tears.

“It means everything,” Reed said of the win after gathering himself. “Everything. We bringing it back. Believe me.”

Griffin didn’t play in the game but understood exactly what Reed was feeling.

“He done seen this culture change up and down so many times,” Griffin said. “In Year 10, to be able to get these guys to the Super Bowl? It’s different when you’re out there playing. Ten years in, you finally make it where you’ve been trying to go.”

Griffin said it’s been “crazy” to be back on a team with Reed and Diggs, one game away from being Super Bowl champions.

“It definitely makes everybody emotional,” Griffin said.

Given Seattle’s success before drafting him, Reed figured he would have reached the Super Bowl sooner. The wait has made him even more appreciative of this opportunity. Reed won multiple championships in college at East Mississippi Community College and the University of Alabama. Now he has a chance to add a Lombardi Trophy to his resume.

Reed has one last speech to give Sunday before the Seahawks play in the biggest game of the season, the one he has been waiting a decade for. Everyone knows what the message will be. They’ll be looking forward to it. Reed will fire them up to do what got them to this point: run, hit and play physical, grown-man football.

And when the big dog speaks, everyone will listen.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.