Broncos Malik Reed Explains Why He Wears The Number 59

Broncos linebacker Malik Reed joined CBS4 sports anchor Michael Spencer on Monday night for Xfinity Monday Live.

DENVER (CBS4) - Malik Reed, who is in his second season in the NFL, is currently tied for the team lead with 7.5 sacks.

"I feel like it starts from belief. Belief in yourself, belief in the plays you can make out there. Before you take the field you have to believe that you can," said Reed in regards to his success this season. "It's a game. You've got to have fun with it each and every step of the way."

What makes Reed's progress even more impressive is that he has only been playing linebacker for a few years, and didn't begin playing the position until his senior year in college.

"I feel like in college, disruption -- I could do that, but from then to now, it's been just leaning more about the game. Trying to cram all the linebacker stuff like drops and understanding lineman pulling, and trying to see the game in a different light. Whether it's from experience, or coaches, or teammates as well, I'm just trying to soak up all I can and take my game to another level."

Malik also shared the story of why he wears the number 59, when asked in the "Questions From the Crowd" segment.

Reed says he wears the number to honor his former teammate at Nevada, Marc Ma, who drowned while paddleboarding in the summer of 2016.

"One of my teammates in college was number 59. He was a guy I was close with. He had an incident at Lake Tahoe, and I just felt like it's no coincidence that I got the number. That's the number they gave me, and that's a great way to honor him. It meant a lot to me to have that number in remembrance of him."

Reed and the rest of the Broncos will close out their season on Sunday when they host the Las Vegas Raiders at 2:25 p.m. The game can be seen on CBS4 in the Denver viewing area.