Lucas Reed has followed in his brother’s footsteps for his entire life.
Thanks to Brooks, Lucas is two years away from potentially joining his brother in the NFL.
Born and raised in Tucson, Ariz., Lucas did it all as a kid: soccer, baseball, wrestling, swimming, and football. He said he chose football because he liked to hit people, and his older brother, Brooks Reed, happened to play. Lucas joined the Sabino High School football team and was determined not to just ride his brother’s coattails.
“He was the star player there,” Lucas said. “And I was kind of in his shadow.”
Brooks went on to play for the University of Arizona. Lucas’ junior season in high school, meanwhile, didn’t go as planned: He didn’t make the varsity team, leading him to consider quitting.
But his brother wouldn’t let him.
“He kept me motivated with a little speech he gave me,” he said. “And it was weird because he had never done that before, but he did really well, and it had a great impact on me.”
Lucas started his senior season and got noticed by the Lobos.
Eventually, they offered him a scholarship, and he jumped at the chance.
“That was it for me,” he said.
Now a junior at UNM, Lucas is a preseason candidate for the John Mackey Award, given to the best tight end in Division I.
Meanwhile, Brooks was drafted by the Houston Texans in June.
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Lucas said he would love to be on the same field as his brother.
“One of these days hopefully I can play against him,” Lucas said.
“Or with him.”
The prospect isn’t farfetched.
CBSSports.com ranks Lucas as the seventh best junior tight end prospect for the 2012 draft, but Lucas doesn’t keep track of the rankings. He doesn’t watch professional football.
“I don’t follow it,” he said, “I just play it.”
And he plays it really well.
Few people knew about Reed before last season’s Wyoming game at University Stadium. In the Lobos’ lone win, Lucas had seven receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns, including a one-handed diving catch in the end zone.
He was also the Lobos’ most consistent wideout, and led the team in touchdown receptions and receiving yards per game. Don’t try to ask him about it, though. Reed’s memory eludes him, except when it comes to that ball he dropped against NMSU two seasons ago.
“It repeats in my head and always haunts me,” he said.
Which is an apt description of what he does to opponents’ secondaries.
Quarterback B.R. Holbrook said Lucas, a 6-foot-6-inch, 232-pound tight end, is easy to find when he is scanning foes’ zones and confusing schemes.
“Anytime I am looking for that big body over the middle, I look for him,” he said. “I know I can throw it up and he will make a play.”
The addition of Lamaar Thomas and Deon Long to the receiving corps should spread the field and give Lucas more opportunities to catch balls this season. And if those guys get the bulk of the targets, Lucas said ‘so be it.’
“If we can win games without throwing me the ball, it’s fine with me,” he said.
Lucas’ road to success hasn’t always been smooth, but has stayed the course, and he said his brother, his biggest inspiration and role model, is largely the reason.
“He’s such a good brotherly figure in my life,” he said. “He’s never fought with me. He’s never tried to beat me up or anything like that. He has made it all the way to the top just by himself.”
