Ed Reed isn't trying to cause trouble when he calls out Hines Ward. He thinks too much of his old rival as a player to disrespect him.
But the Baltimore Ravens safety isn't afraid to speak his mind on what he believes is a dangerous style of play exhibited by the Pittsburgh Steelers' star wide receiver.
Reed was a guest on NFL Network on Monday morning, and in between discussing the end of the NFL lockout, he elaborated on critical comments that he made about Ward at his annual football camp.
"We have to police each other when we're on the football field," said Reed, a seven-time All-Pro. "I've been playing against the guy for a long time now, and we do have some great battles, but there's a reason they put a rule in for Hines. You can go back and watch the tape, the tape don't lie, you can't hit guys with the crown of your helmet."
Last week, Reed called Ward a dirty player.
"I love Hines as a player, and I told him that," Reed said last week. "But I told him also for a long time, 'You're a dirty player because I know how you play.'Â "
Reed said Monday that proper blocking techniques are taught at the youth level of football, and the same practices should apply in the fast and fearsome world of the NFL.
"There's a reason why Hines has been a great football player, a great blocker in this league, because how he plays, he plays hard," Reed said. "You can't take anything away from him. But when you're dropping and hitting people with the crown of your helmet, those are type of things that need to be addressed."
While Reed has publicly taken Ward's playing style to task, he defended Monday the perception and treatment of another Steelers star who has been in the news lately.
"James Harrison has been a guy who's been getting fined, and he's hitting people with his forearm and his shoulder pads, he's not clearly hitting them with the crown of his helmet," Reed said. "So those are the things the NFL needs to look at and kind of police better than just trying to fine guys and take their money just because an offensive guy or whoever is getting a concussion."
Reed's message was that the game has a code, and it must be followed to protect the safety of all involved.
"I've been playing the game for a long time, I consider myself one smart player on the football field when it comes to trying to hit guys and trying not to take guys out," he said. "I know how (Ward) plays, and I feel like I can comment about it without being disrespectful about it."
