Arizona football figures: Brooks Reed on sacking Stanzi, switching sides, stomaching Super Bowl sorrow

Editor’s note: Until the postponed Pac-12 football season resumes, the Star will interview the participants in some of the Arizona Wildcats’ most memorable games.

The sacks came in such a furious flurry that the official tally remains fuzzy years later.

Fans and participants remember Sept. 18, 2010, as the night the Arizona defense sacked Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi four times in a row to seal a heart-thumping 34-27 victory at Arizona Stadium. Although the Wildcats did send Stanzi to the turf on four consecutive plays, only three of them counted. The snap on third-and-12 was wiped out because of a false start.

No one was closer to the action than UA defensive end Brooks Reed, and even he wasn’t sure what was happening amid the ruckus.

“I kept thinking it was fourth down when it was third down, because there was a penalty and it was loud and you don’t know what’s going on,” Reed said. “I was like, ‘Dang, I feel like we’ve sacked this guy like eight times in a row. How many downs do they get?’”

It didn’t matter in the end. The 24th-ranked Wildcats stopped the ninth-ranked Hawkeyes to secure the signature win of the Mike Stoops era.

Reed, a Tucsonan who attended Sabino High School and enrolled at the UA as a fullback, was a senior on that team. He would finish the season with 6.5 sacks before being drafted by the Houston Texans in the second round of the loaded 2011 draft.

Reed played nine seasons with the Texans, Falcons and Cardinals. He is currently a free agent, hoping to latch on with a team to make it an even 10 years in the NFL.

Reed, 33, has been working out regularly in his adopted hometown of Phoenix and in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where his wife’s parents have a farm. Brooks and Natalie are parents themselves now of 1-year-old Burke.

Reed addressed the Iowa game, his career-changing switch from fullback to defensive end, playing in Super Bowl LI against Tom Brady and the Patriots and what the future might hold in a wide-ranging interview with the Star. The conversation has been lightly edited for context and clarity.

What do you remember most about the 2010 game against Iowa?

A: “Besides how the game ended? It was probably one of the more fun games I’ve ever played there, or anywhere. The atmosphere was amazing. The crowd was rocking. It was probably the loudest I’ve ever heard that stadium. That stadium is pretty open air, but the crowd will feel like it’s on top of you. The seating’s very vertical. You can hear and smell the crowd that’s yelling behind you.”

Whether they all counted or not, sacking a quarterback four straight times seems almost impossible. How did you guys do it?

A: “Part of it was just the energy we felt. The other half was the game plan that Mike Stoops … put together, Tim Kish, Jeff Hammerschmidt. They used this ‘bear’ front at the end of the game … two 3-techniques and two edge guys. They didn’t know who was coming and who wasn’t.

“They couldn’t adjust; they didn’t see it until the end of the game. We kept just running it.”

You guys fell off late that season, but your time there was pretty prosperous. What enabled the program to have success under Stoops?

A: “At that point he was with the program for a number of years. His recruits were finally getting to the top, being juniors and seniors. We can never get the five-star guys or four-star guys that Texas or the California teams would get. Arizona has to get tricky with recruiting and develop their guys.

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“We had a great strength coach at the time. His name was Corey Edmond. He was super tough on us, probably the hardest training I’ve ever had; I probably couldn’t do that now. But he really strengthened us mentally and really drew us closer.”

There were a lot of future pros on those defenses — you, Trevin Wade, Rob Golden, Earl Mitchell …

A: “It’s kind of funny with me and him … we were both fullbacks. There were a couple injuries; someone got in trouble in the offseason on the D-line. We went over there because of Corey Edmond’s recommendation. ‘These guys are the fastest guys on the team in the first 10 yards, we should probably put them on the D-line.’”

That decision altered the trajectory of your career.

A: “I remember them (telling) me when I got there, ‘You played fullback and D-end in high school and you were good at both, so you can pick what you want to play.’ I was like, ‘I want the ball.’ So stupid.

“It just made so much sense (to switch). I didn’t have experience at D-end, but they could tell I would be more of that athletic type that could run around guys, set a quality edge and be a leader on defense.”

You made the Super Bowl with the Falcons. The game was in Houston, where you began your pro career. You were on your way to winning it, and then it turns into this insane, unprecedented comeback by the Patriots. Looking back, how do you process that game?

A: “It sucks, obviously, to lose. But you’re part of history. Whether you win or lose, you were in that game.

“I don’t think I’ve ever watched the film. You’re mad at the fact that you really had that game won. Woulda, coulda, shoulda type of thing. It was that close, and that’s what the frustrating part about it is. A lot of guys, a lot of fans, thought that we were going to be Super Bowl champs.

“The loss sucked, but it’s kind of a life lesson. Only one team is going to be happy at the end. Even if you make it to the top, it’s tough.”

You played nine games with the Cardinals last year before ending the season on injured reserve. What’s the status of your career at the moment?

A: “I’m still trying to play. I’m gonna try to play one more year. It’s really weird with the COVID stuff. I’m at a disadvantage, because they’re quarantining guys for a few days before you can even sign. So it’s much easier for a team to sign a guy that is on their reserve already and has been quarantined. When guys go down, they need a guy like, now. They can’t wait three or four days to sign someone.

“It’s kind of out of my control. It’s just based off of need. There’s always injuries at my position. I was one of them last year.

“So we’ll see what happens. I wasn’t expecting the whole COVID stuff, obviously. But every year is different. There’s always a surprise. Each year is like a journey. You go through so many little micro injuries. You’re trying to just douse the flames weekly, whatever it is. Just surviving in the NFL.

“You’re just trying to keep a job. There’s always someone behind you, trying to prove themselves. It’s difficult. But (if) you’re smart about it and you care about it (and) you’re motivated, you can last a long time.”

Whether your career is extended for a year or two or this is it, have you thought about what’s next?

A: “I’m trying to. I want to know what’s next. The NFL pays you to go back to school, so I’m like, ‘Why not just get a degree in something I really want to do?’ Or I could get into coaching. I have all these paths I could take. I just want it to be something I could picture myself doing for a long time.”