Buffalo Bills receiving great Andre Reed is beyond disappointed at not being elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last weekend and he's not trying to hide it.
"I can't say any more about it," Reed told The Buffalo News on Thursday. "I'm so exhausted with it."
Reed was left out after making the cut to the final 10 for the third straight year. He has been in the final 15 six straight years. After saying he reluctantly came to Indianapolis last weekend for the announcement, Reed acknowledged to the newspaper that this rejection was the most disappointing.
"Yeah, it is," he told the newspaper. "It is. It is. And really, I'm at a loss for words because I've said as much as I could say, politically, the way I want to say it. I'm not going to go out and bash anybody. That's not how I work. I don't work like that."
Reed had 951 catches for 13,198 yards and 87 touchdowns in 16 seasons.
Reed has some company, of course, since neither Cris Carter or Tim Brown, two other standout receivers from his day, made it either. Both have more catches, yards and touchdowns than Reed, with Carter having 130 touchdown catches, the fourth-best total in history.
Reed, however, was third in career catches and fourth in yards when he retired in 2000.
Jerry Rice and Michael Irvin are the only two receivers to have played most of their careers in the 1990s and made the Hall of Fame.
At this point, Reed said he's probably more disappointed for his family and friends than for himself.
"I wanted it more for them than I did for myself, Reed told the newspaper. "That might seem stupid. It might seem backwards, but that's the kind of guy I am.
"I've always been that way. I always look for the next guy rather than myself. If those voters knew that, maybe I'd get in."