Frequent New England Patriots nemesis, now Canton, Ohio, Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee, Ed Reed opened up about competing against the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady team.

From Tom E. Curran in NBC Sports Boston:

“It was the best,” Reed answered quickly. “You always want to play a game and go against the best. You want them to bring out the best in you. That’s the only way to do it. Honestly, if you go against teams that don’t love it the way you love it, you can take it lightly sometimes. It’s only natural.

“But I loved those games, going against the greats. Who else would you rather go against? The Tom Bradys, the Peyton Mannings, the Coach Belichicks.”

Reed was enshrined in the Hall of Fame over the weekend alongside NFL greats Champ Bailey, Pat Bowlen, Gil Brandt, Tony Gonzalez, Ty Law, Kevin Mawae, and Johnny Robinson.

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Mawae, who spent eight years lined up at center for the New York Jets, also had fond words to share for his former rivals Patriots, per NBC Sports Boston again:

“I never felt more challenged mentally in a game than when I faced your teams,” Mawae said. “I came to love the puzzle of figuring out your defense and the chess match those games became. I didn’t win all of them, in fact, my team’s lost most of them. I think we were 4-13 against you. That sucks. That was awful. I still hate the Patriots, everyone hates the winners.”

Reed, 40, spent the entirety of his 12-year NFL career playing in the AFC, thus frequently matching up with New England, like back-to-back AFC Championship Game tilts in 2011-12 between the Pats and Ravens.