Seahawks Defensive Tackle Jarran Reed "Very Grateful" For Seattle Mariners First Pitch Opportunity

SEATTLE - If you're wondering what the story was behind Jarran Reed rocking a Seattle Mariners baseball cap in a photo posted to his Instagram account roughly six weeks before the Seahawks moved up to select the Alabama defensive tackle in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, well, there isn't one. Reed simply picked it up at Lids, the apparel chain that specializes in team hats, because it went well with the Seahawks shirt he coincidentally had on that day. “It was actually just a hat that matched the outfit I had," Reed said Friday night at Safeco Field before tossing the ceremonial first pitch for the Mariners' game against the Texas Rangers. "I just happened to have it on that day in the Seattle shirt, and took the picture.” Reed still has the hat, but he wasn't rocking it on this particular June evening. Instead, the 6-foot-3, 311-pounder showed his pride with a custom-made Mariners jersey bearing his Seahawks uniform number 93 as he readied to get reacquainted with a sport he played for 10 years growing up, but also one he knew he was "going to grow out of sooner or later." “I played catcher, first base, left field, right field," Reed recalled. "I played everything, except for pitcher.” Even though he'd never played the position before, Reed felt comfortable delivering his first pitch from the top of the pitcher's mound, a change-up from teammate Germain Ifedi, who took his first pitch earlier this year from the grass like Ken Griffey Jr. “I’m going from where [pitchers] throw at," Reed said. "The top." Reed's goal? To "do it way better" than the less-than-stellar efforts of rappers Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent. "I think I will," Reed said. "I know I will.” The rookie defensive tackle's confidence ended up paying off. As Reed entered Safeco Field's field level, he 'tapped in' as the Seahawks do before each practice and proceeded to venture out to the rubber where he delivered a respectable toss to the Mariners' Shawn O'Malley, indeed doing it "way better" than Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent to cap his initial experience in front of Seattle sports fans. "I’ve seen them around," Reed said of Seattle's sports fanbase. "But for them to actually see who I really am and for me to see them too, as well, I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”

Seahawks Defensive Tackle Jarran Reed "Very Grateful" For Seattle Mariners First Pitch Opportunity

Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on Friday night.