Joseph William Reed (born January 4, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...

, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 2019.

Early life

Reed grew up in

Charlotte Court House, Virginia Charlotte Court House is a town in and the county seat of Charlotte County, Virginia, United States. The population was 756 at the 2020 census. Geography The town is located near the center of Charlotte County. Virginia State Route 40 passes thr ...

and attended Randolph-Henry High School. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

. He played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

as a freshman and moved to

before his sophomore year. He finished his sophomore season with 33 receptions for 900 yards and 21 total

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s and had 15 touchdown receptions as a junior. Reed moved from wide receiver to

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for his senior season and rushed for 2,100 yards and 38 touchdowns.

College career

As a freshman, Reed served as the Cavaliers' primary

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

and returned 28 kicks for 678 yards total (25.1 average). As a sophomore, he returned 29 kicks for 861 yards with two touchdowns and caught 23 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for one touchdown and was named honorable mention All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) as a return specialist. Reed was named third-team All-ACC after finishing his junior season with 25 receptions for 465 yards and seven touchdowns and 707 yards and a touchdown on 26 kickoff returns. As a senior, Reed returned 24 kickoffs for 796 yards (33.2 yards per return) and two touchdowns and was named first-team All-ACC as an all-purpose performer and as a return specialist, as well as a first-team

by the

Walter Camp Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of f ...

and the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

and won the

Jet Award The Jet Award, named in honor of 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny "the Jet" Rodgers, is awarded to the top return specialist in college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, stu ...

as the nation's top return specialist. Reed also led Virginia with 77 receptions for 679 yards and seven touchdowns.

Professional career

Los Angeles Chargers

Reed was selected by the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

with the 151st overall pick in the fifth round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

. He scored his first professional touchdown on a seven-yard rush against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

in Week 7. On August 31, 2021, Reed was waived by the Chargers and re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Chargers on January 18, 2022. On August 30, 2022, Reed was waived by the Chargers and signed to the practice squad the next day.

Chicago Bears

On January 19, 2023, Reed signed a reserve/future contract with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. He was

waived/injured The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

on August 26, 2023.

References

External links

Virginia Cavaliers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Joe 1998 births Living people People from Charlotte County, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia American football wide receivers American football return specialists Virginia Cavaliers football players Los Angeles Chargers players All-American college football players Chicago Bears players