Family divided? Nope. Georgia’s J.R. Reed, Tennessee’s Nigel Warrior are cousins, rivals and each other’s fan
By Dave Hooker
Published:
ATLANTA — Georgia defensive back J.R. Reed is confident, but he’s also realistic.
When asked who is the better athlete, Reed or his cousin, Tennessee safety Nigel Warrior, Reed gave Warrior the nod.
“I give Nigel that,” the junior said. “He can do a backflip; I can’t do that. I give him that. He can flip. I can’t flip.”
When it comes to backflips, Reed has no desire to even attempt to follow in his cousin’s footsteps.
“I was not going to do that,” Reed said. “I would never try it. I would never do it.”
Flip or no flip, Reed can hold his own on the football field. After sitting out the 2016 season following his transfer from Tulsa, Reed started all 15 games for the Bulldogs last season and ranked second among Georgia defenders with 79 tackles He was then named the defensive Newcomer of the Year at the team’s postseason awards gala.
It certainly didn’t appear that Reed would be an SEC football player when he came out of Prestonwood Christian High School in Plano, Texas. Reed had scholarship offers from far more modest schools than Georgia, including SMU, Yale, UNLV and Tulsa before signing with The Golden Hurricanes.
Reed’s options were limited after he suffered a knee injury during the final game of his senior season. Reed planned to attend with SMU before a coaching change at that school derailed those plans.
Reed wasn’t a standout at Tulsa during his one season there. He had only five tackles, mostly on special teams, before making the decision to transfer and walk-on at Georgia. That worked out well. Suddenly, Reed, who is the son of former NFL standout receiver Jake Reed, has become one of Georgia’s most dependable players. Last week he was voted to the preseason All-SEC first-team.
Still, he’s always keeping an eye north to see how his cousin is faring for one of Georgia’s fiercest rivals.
“It’s been great,” Reed said of watching Warrior, who is entering his junior season. “He’s my little cousin. It’s been amazing watching him grow, watching him play. He’s at Tennessee and I’m at Georgia, but I’m still rooting for him.”
Reed remembers spending time with Warrior well. It was a much more carefree time than life in the SEC when they’d meet at their grandmother’s house for family events.
“Just being at my Granny’s house,” Reed said. “Me, the other kids and Nigel, out there running around barefoot and just having fun, not really caring what was going on the world. Just having fun, not really worried about football, just being kids.”
Football, however, was never too far from their minds. There was always time to show off their skills to the local neighbors.
“We went out and played, but we probably played against other kids (instead of against each other),” Reed said. “We always wanted to beat up on everybody else. We always wanted to be on the same team and be the unfair balance that could beat up on everyone else.”
While both have made their way through college in the defensive backfield, Reed and Warrior, who was a 4-star prospect out of Peachtree Ridge High School in Duluth, Ga., were pretty dominant on offense and defense.
“We played offense too,” Reed said. “We’re so athletic that we played both sides. If you got the ball, you we’re definitely getting hit.”
Reed doesn’t mind hitting people. In fact, that’s one of his strengths. Just don’t ask him to try a backflip.
“I can do a front flip off the diving board,” Reed said with a smile. “That’s about it.”
Dave Hooker started covering Tennessee in 1998. He hosts an SEC radio show out of Chattanooga and covers the SEC for Saturday Down South.
