Former Bills wide receiver Andre Reed will be the Legend of the Game for Buffalo's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football.
The Hall of Fame receiver spent all but one of his 16 professional seasons with the Bills, totaling 13,095 receiving yards and 86 touchdowns from 1985-99, appearing in the Super Bowl from 1991-94 and earning Pro Bowl honors seven consecutive times.
"I was fortunate enough to play with and be around some of the best people I ever met in my life within a 14-year span," Reed said. "I was one of the lucky ones to be able to be in Buffalo that long and be with the same people every day, year in and year out."
While Reed enjoyed immense success in Buffalo, he said that his favorite part about living in Western New York was the community.
"One thing about Buffalonians, they're very friendly. The people of Buffalo, what they mean to the city, what they mean to the team. Buffalo is a resilient bunch of people and one thing they're not going to do is quit, and that really embodies what the team was about when I played there in the 90's."
The Bills won four consecutive AFC Championships from 1990-93. Their 1993 roster featured Hall of Famers Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Jim Kelly and Reed and was led by Hall of Fame head coach Marv Levy.
"One thing about that team and those teams I played for in Buffalo, we just had the right people in the right place," Reed said. "We had the right coach, we had the right front office. We had everything going our way and we just had to play football and realize that every day we go into the building, we have to cross every T and dot every I."
Reed currently ranks 15th in all-time NFL touchdown receptions and ninth in all-time NFL postseason receptions. Reed was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Perhaps Reed's most legendary performance came in a 1993 playoff victory over the Houston Oilers. Houston led 35-3 during the third quarter before Reed caught three second-half touchdowns and the Bills came back to win 41-38.
"We had the crowd, we had momentum and we had the breaks to go our way. When all three things happen, we have to capitalize on those mistakes that the other team made," Reed said on the game that has become known as simply "The Comeback."
Reed, who now lives in California, said he has not been to Buffalo in a couple of seasons and was looking forward to his return to WNY.
"Always excited to come up there," Reed said. "The fan base has always been great there, you know, one of the best fan bases in the country."
In 2010, Reed established the Andre Reed Foundation to "help underprivileged children reach their full potential and become responsible contributors to their communities," according to their website. The non-profit organization has supported local charities in Reed's hometown of Allentown, Pa and around the U.S.
"I know to much is given, much is expected," Reed said. "We will continue to keep going forward and changing lives with Boys and Girls Club kids all over the country."
Reed will join Bills Mafia in rooting on the Bills as they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football at 8:15 p.m.
