Seahawks Spotlight: Jarran Reed
Oct 19, 2017, 6:00 AM | Updated: 10:02 am
Defensive tackle Jarran Reed is featured in the Seahawks Spotlight, talking about everything from his time at "Last Chance U" to the changes in his diet this offseason.
RENTON – Jarran Reed misses barbecue.
He’s from North Carolina, where barbecue means pork served with a vinegar-based sauce, but this offseason saw him make some changes in his diet as he prepared for his second season in the NFL.
“I cut out beef and pork,” Reed said. “Just something I wanted to try, and actually, after I cut it out, I kind of like it.”
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Wait a minute, he likes missing out on sausage? And ham? And pork shoulder?
“Don’t get me wrong because I love bacon, OK?” Reed said. “I love bacon.
“A cheeseburger is not a cheeseburger without bacon. Even though it’s a cheeseburger, you know what I’m saying?”
Yes, Jarran. We know exactly what you’re saying. But the fact is that taking pork out of his diet was a big part in offseason improvement as Reed began training camp in much better shape than he was a year ago not so much smaller as leaner – and faster.
Coach Pete Carroll pointed it out back in August, and the proof has been in the results on the field. It was Reed who pushed Rams guard Rodger Saffold back into quarterback Jared Goff, forcing the wobbled throw that Earl Thomas picked off in the fourth quarter of the Seahawks’ Week 5 win.
“I was just trying to better myself because I want to maximize my ability,” said Reed, who was drafted in the second round out of Alabama, “and whatever I’ve got to do, and to maintain with these guys, they’re on top of their game and they’re tough, so I need to be on top of my game, on top of my nutrition and everything. The only thing I will have is a good steak. That’s it. And it’s got to be grass-fed, but that’s the only thing, and I’ll probably do that once a week.”
Now, he’ll be trying to make quarterbacks a weekly part of his diet, too, and on Wednesday he joined “Danny, Dave and Moore” to discuss everything from the growth of his game in the NFL to his path to Alabama, which saw him go from North Carolina to Scooba, Miss., where he attended the school known as “Last Chance U” which is now the subject of a Netflix series.
