A Broncos reserve linebacker won’t be escaping his eponymous link to one of the craziest Massachusetts murder cases that has surfaced in decades.
Football heads on social media couldn’t help but notice the name, Karene Reid, on the Denver roster ahead of Sunday’s AFC title game between the Patriots and Broncos.
That’s correct. Reid, a backup inside linebacker, has a nearly identical name to Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman who was acquitted at a trial last summer of murdering her Boston Police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.
MLFootball, an X account that shares NFL content and has over 420,000 followers, posted about the link, confusing some who did not seem to know about Read’s two murder trials, which fascinated true crime followers around the country and world.
“THIS IS WILD! Many #NFL fans do not know this but the Denver #Broncos have a linebacker named Karene Reid,” MLFootball commented in a post. “Karene is an undrafted free-agent rookie linebacker who played college football at Utah. Denver faces the NE #Patriots this week in the AFC championship game.”
One follower responded, “And? Why is this WILD??”
Karene Reid recorded just five total tackles during the regular season, which was cut short due to an injury he suffered in Week 10. He played 59% of Denver’s special teams snaps before being placed on injured reserve.
Denver activated the undrafted rookie before the postseason.
“The locals will be TALKING if this person makes a big play against the Patriots,” Patriots commentator Michael Hurley posted on X. Jerry Thornton, of Barstool Sports, responded, “The universe is messing with me.”
In November, Karen Read sued witnesses from her murder case, who she argues framed her for killing O’Keefe and are responsible for his death. O’Keefe died at the age of 46 in the early morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
