 "Photo: Courtesy of Texas Tech Media Relations")
Going up against Big 12 sack leader Brian Orakpo pales in comparison to the many challenges Texas Tech starting left tackle Rylan Reed has faced.
The road hasn’t been easy for the 26-year-old senior, who has faced cancer and tragedy.
“I’ve battled a lot of adversity in life, and that’s prepared me for the adversity I’ve faced in games,” Reed said. “When it comes down to it, football is just a game; cancer is something that changes your life.”
Reed’s future coming out of high school looked bright — but as a baseball player. He received several scholarship offers to play football for SEC schools, but the 6-foot-7-inch Reed decided to go with baseball after being drafted by the White Sox in the 2000 MLB draft.
While playing in the low minors for the White Sox from 2001-2003, Reed dazzled opponents with a 95-mile-per-hour fastball and even struck out Barry Bonds in a spring training game. He was named the organization’s pitcher of the year in 2003.
Reed’s crash course toward the majors came to a screeching halt when he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at age 22. Reed had three feet of intestines and a tumor removed before starting chemotherapy. After three and a half months of chemo, Reed had recovered from cancer but not before losing 30 pounds.
Two days after he called the White Sox to let them know he was ready to return, Reed’s father, a former player baseball player at Rice who encouraged Rylan to play pro baseball, died in a car accident.
Reed went back to the White Sox, but said his heart wasn’t in baseball anymore. He decided to play football again, and came to Texas Tech in 2005 as a tight end. He caught two passes in his first season, and after that, Red Raider head coach Mike Leach gave Reed an option.
“I told him he could either be a slow tight end or an athletic offensive lineman,” Leach told CBS Sports. “He had a huge frame, and I knew he’d get bigger.”
And boy did he get bigger. Reed is now 315 pounds and lifted a team record 625 pounds in the bench press. During the season Reed says he lifts just 400-500 pounds to prevent from overdoing it.
Reed got his first start last season as a junior, giving up just one sack the entire year and helping the Raider offense become the nation’s top passing team.
In the Gator Bowl, Reed kept All-American defensive end Chris Long, who went secondin the 2008 NFL draft, from getting a sack.
That Gator Bowl may have been Reed’s biggest game until this Saturday. In fact, Reed said that experience will prepare him for Texas’ Orakpo.
“Both are great players and are great all-around defensive ends with size, strength and speed,” Reed said. “They have a lot of talent, but I’m up for the challenge. I’m very excited about this opportunity.”
This year Reed is a part of the undefeated No. 6 Texas Tech team that has risen to new heights.
“It’s a dream come true to be where we are at now, and it’s such an enjoyment to see this program rise,” Reed said.
Playing on national television with the chance to win a championship reaffirms Reed’s decision to leave baseball for football.
“Looking back on everything, I don’t regret any of the decisions I’ve made,” Reed said. “I’m really happy with how things have turned out right now, and of the things I can control, I wouldn’t change anything.”
