For LSU junior safety Eric Reid, the humble, soft-spoken defender best known for his hard-hitting playmaking on the field, team always comes before self.
“My goals aren’t to make big plays,” Reid said. “My goals are to help my team out.”
But Reid is perhaps best remembered for the moment in last year’s regular-season matchup with Alabama, where his big solo play not only helped his team, but also propelled the Tigers to victory.
Tied 6-6 with Alabama in the fourth quarter with the Tide driving inside the red zone, Reid stole the ball in midair from Alabama junior tight end Michael Williams.
Reid’s interception thwarted the best chance at a touchdown for either team, and turned the momentum in the Tigers’ favor, pushing them to an eventual 9-6 overtime victory.
The pick became the defining moment of last season’s “Game of the Century” and the defining moment of Reid’s career to date.
Since the interception, Reid’s popularity has skyrocketed.
Although Reid said he’s a football player, not a celebrity, walking in public without being spotted has been a lot harder since that night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“People recognize me a little bit more when I go places now, but it’s all cool,” Reid said.
He garners more attention on the field these days, too.
Fellow junior safety Craig Loston said opposing defenses scheme to avoid Reid now that they don’t have to contend with former standout LSU defenders like Morris Claiborne and Tyrann Mathieu.
But that hasn’t stopped Reid from continuing his ball-hawking ways. Wherever the ball is, Reid can usually be found nearby.
After leading the team in tackles last season, Reid is currently third in tackles on the team with 50, tied for first in interceptions with two and first in deflected passes with six this season.
“Since [the interception], I think more people look forward to him making big plays like that, and he has done it and continues to do it,” Loston said.
Reid’s continued big hits and takeaways have made him the face of the Tigers’ defensive backfield, a role recently occupied by former big-name defenders Mathieu and Patrick Peterson.
Reid often receives the loudest cheers in Tiger Stadium when LSU’s defensive starting lineup is announced, and Loston said it all started with that interception.
A year after the most memorable play of his career, Reid and the Tigers are preparing for another showdown with the Tide, but Reid said it’s different this time.
Last year, the Tigers’ defensive backfield was littered with Heisman Trophy finalists, All-Americans and Thorpe Trophy winners.
But now with many of those players gone, Reid has used the platform created by his big-play ability to become the vocal leader in the Tigers’ secondary.
“We’re young in the secondary, so I’ve just been trying to coach those guys up on the field and make sure they get lined up,” Reid said.
Saturday’s game will inevitably have another defining moment because big plays have to be made in big games, Reid said.
But Saturday’s big play will have nothing to do with the play that thrust him into LSU lore.
“The play isn’t going to affect this game at all,” Reid said. “That’s in the past.”
