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Joe Reed Heads to LA After Being Picked in the NFL Draft

   Written by on April 30, 2020 at 1:53 pm

CHARLOTTE COUNTY – “We going to L.A., baby!” These were the first words to his family from Joe Reed following the phone call on Saturday afternoon from Tom Telesco, the GM of the Los Angeles Chargers, telling the Charlotte County and University of Virginia football star that he was being drafted to the NFL with the 151st pick overall.

Immediately following the announcement on Saturday, social media posts from not only Charlotte, but Lunenburg, Prince Edward and other area locations began popping up everywhere congratulating him on this dream come true for the Southside Virginia product. Joe Reed is a Charlotte County native, but has been embraced by people all over this area and of course in Charlottesville. The social media responses centered not only on how great an athlete and player he is, but they also all spoke of how he was a good person, which is a tribute obviously to Joe, but also his parents, Carlton and Tonya, as well as his entire family. There have been NFL players from local counties including Charlotte, Lunenburg and Nottoway, but while those individuals were supported and praised by those areas, Reed has seen his support cover an entire area of the state highlighting the impression he made, not only for teammates, but opponents during his time on the field so far.

LA Chargers websites also seemed to have immediately embraced their WR with Bolt Beat stating, “The LA Chargers were in serious need of wide receiver depth, and that prompted them to draft Joe Reed in the fifth round. The Chargers added a player who should be a solid contributor in a lot of different ways in the offense. He can run the ball in jet sweeps and other gadget plays, so he brings playmaking ability to a wide receiver corps lacking in his skills. He improved every year in his four-year career for the Virginia Cavaliers and led the team in receptions in his senior season.”

Chargers GM Telesco said in his call to Reed that the team is looking to use him in a variety of roles from wide receiver, running back and kick returner, to even kick coverage teams. Other Chargers sources said that they expect him to be an instant contributor on the offense and in the return game while bringing playmaking ability to the wide receiver corps.

Reed was a standout on and off the playing field at Randolph-Henry High School where he was a multi-sport standout with many people believing that he could have been a star in baseball at the college level as well. In football, he was an offensive star while playing wide receiver, quarterback and running back at times. At R-H he amassed over 2,200 yards on the ground alone and scored more than 30 touchdowns. His senior year he set a record with 392 yards in a single game. The 2016 graduate of Randolph-Henry set many offensive records in high school and garnered the attention of then UVa Head Coach Mike London. 

Reed headed 80 miles north to UVA where he completed his career under Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall while setting more records in college. He set the school career kick return yardage record with 3,042 career yards while also setting the mark for the most kick return touchdowns with five. During his senior season he led the nation with a 33.2 kick return average and was awarded the Jet Award, for the top return specialist in college football. During his standout senior season, he had 679 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Reed is just the 10th player in Football Bowl Subdivision history with 3,000-plus career kick return yards. His other accolades include being named First-team All-America by the Walter Camp Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America. He was also a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award.

The UVa coaches all had great things to say about Reed with Bronco Mendenhall saying that he is one of the best he has coached and Virginia special teams coach Ricky Brumfield saying that he was irreplaceable.

Reed commented following his senior year at UVa, “I am aware of the endless amount of support that you all have given me throughout my career at UVa. I am convinced that I have the BEST fans in the nation. Words cannot describe how thankful I am for each and every one of you. I am blessed to be a part of such a supportive community. It was an awesome experience and I’m glad you could enjoy it with me.”

Following the draft on Saturday and him preparing for his new team in Los Angeles, Reed again offered a statement to his fans saying, “Thank you for all of the continued love and support! I am excited for my new journey. Bolt Up!”

Reed heads to LA where he will no doubt pick up even more fans for his actions on and off the field, while Southside Virginia picked up more Chargers fans on Saturday afternoon as well.

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