Time to dust off a classic story.
If you've heard this one go ahead and move along. But for those who haven't, here's a lighter story in the midst of an emotionally heavy week.
In 2001, Ravens safety Ed Reed and Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne were roommates at the University of Miami. Wayne had a pet 9-foot-long Burmese python named "Law."
After getting drafted, Wayne left Law in Reed's care. Well, it was Reed's senior year of college and he had plenty more fun things to do than feed a snake. Plus, he doesn't like snakes.
So Reed didn't feed the snake. And when you don't feed your pets … well you get the idea.
When Wayne returned to Coral Gables on his bye week, he found Law looking a bit sluggish. Wayne nursed him back to health, but made the mistake of leaving him in Reed's care once again. Seriously, why would you not take the snake with you at that point?
Well, one day Wayne got a text message from Reed with a simple message:
"Hey, man, Law dead."
Wayne presumably wasn't too pleased at the time, but the two have had plenty of fun with the story since.
Before a game against each other in 2010, Wayne said: "He killed my snake. He neglected my snake. He was supposed to reimburse me with a new one. He hasn't done that yet." Reed responded on the NFL Network a couple months later while at the Pro Bowl.
"I didn't kill his snake," Reed said. "His snake passed away."
Despite the whole snake death downer, Reed and Wayne are still very close and speak frequently. They'll rekindle their matchup this Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, but Reed isn't happy about it (and it doesn't have anything to do with the snake).
"I hate playing him," Reed said. "I think he feels the same way, because we text each other like, 'Here we go again.'
"Reggie is like a brother who taught me how to cover. Me and him used to run a lot of one-on-ones. When guys were gone, me and Reggie used to go against each other, sometimes without a ball. Catching the ball also, he was always harping on me like, 'How are you my roommate and can't catch.?' It's brother going against brother."
