NFL Network special on Andre Reed's Road to Canton revealed a lot

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FROM KEITH GROLLER

To get you ready for Saturday night's festivities in Canton, the NFL Network debuted a special hour-long look at the life Andre Reed on Thursday night.
It was not called "A Football Life" as expected, but was very similar to what you see in "A Football Life" series.
One mistake was made immediately, however. Just like the famous Billy Joel song "Allentown," the first scene of the documentary shows the SteelStacks of Bethlehem while it says Allentown, Pennsylvania on the screen.
Bethlehem is the steel town, not Allentown.
Other than that and a slight misprounciation of Dieruff, the documentary was very, very good.
The Reed kids -- Tyrone, Dion and Teshia -- came across exceptionally well as did Andre's mother, Joyce, and Andre's head coach at Dieruff, Larry Lewis. Wonderful interviews and it was nice to see Roosevelt Park, S. Filmore Street and Dieruff High's practice field get so much love.
A couple of things I learned after all of these years, and remember, my first story on Andre Reed goes back to 1981:
I didn't know that the late Gino Calcagni, one of the key top assistants at Kutztown, suggested Andre change from QB to wide receiver.
I didn't know Kevin Easterling, a former Dieruff star, called up the Reeds on Draft Day and pretended to be a representative of the Oakland Raiders and drew the ire of Calvin Reed.
I didn't know Calvin, after conquering alcholism, had to write letters to each of his kids and said "I can't change the past" but wanted a brighter future.
I didn't know Andre always said to QB Jim Kelly "Bro, I'm open" before every pass play.
I didn't know all of the Buffalo Bills and their families were invited to Kelly's house -- win or lose -- for postgame get-togethers whether the team won or lost.
There was so much more.
Just an enjoyable hour that for me moves so quickly through a breathtaking career. Just once, after all of the these years, you'd think Scott Norwood would have made that field goal against the Giants, but it still goes wide right and sets the stage for those four straight losses in the Super Bowl.
But as pointed out, it was not amazing that the Bills lost four straight Super Bowls. It was amazing that they made it to four straight.
We would have liked to have seen a little footage of Andre with his kids and see something of how he interacts with them when we now know the whole story about Calvin and his impact on that entire family.
in all of his appearances in Allentown, Andre's kids are seldom here, but they're great looking kids and you'll probably see them during Saturday night's enshrinement ceremonies.