Editor's Note: This corrects a quote attributed to Tommy Thompson.

New London — New London High School received a special delivery Friday: a golden football from the National Football League.

In honor of Super Bowl 50, the NFL is sending commemorative footballs to every high school that has produced a player or coach who has appeared in the league's championship game.

New London High School principal Tommy Thompson said the NFL contacted the school in September to thank it for being part of the Super Bowl community. David Reed, a wide receiver who played for the victorious Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII in 2013, graduated from New London in 2006.

Reed attended New Britain High School before coming to New London and was instrumental in New London's Class S championship win in 2005 as a senior. He set a national junior college record at Pasadena City College with 111 receptions in 2007 before transferring to the University of Utah, where he set school records for catches and receiving yards his senior year. Reed was selected 25th in the fifth round, 156th overall, by the Ravens in the 2010 NFL draft.

Reed played for the Ravens from 2010 to 2012 and the Indianapolis Colts in 2013. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers in 2014 but was cut before the season began.  

Former Whalers coach Jack Cochran, who coached Reed at New Britain and New London, said Monday that Reed has inspired a lot of area children throughout his football career.

"It is a great honor for New London High School," he said. "His success has meant a lot for New London."

Only 2,000 high schools received the distinction of producing a Super Bowl player or coach, and Thompson said the link the school has to the game of football is very special.

The football, which reads "New London High School, New London, CT, David Reed, Part of Super Bowl History XLVII," sits atop a base that reads Super Bowl 50. It has been positioned in a trophy case honoring the football teams between plaques that honor Reed and his brother Jordan, a tight end who graduated in 2009 and currently plays for the Washington Redskins.

"The kids in the community are honored to have a golden football in our trophy case," Thompson said Monday.

The school is also eligible for a grant from the NFL to support the football program because of the honor.

Thompson said athletic director Chris Vamvakides was in the process of planning an event for the commemoration, but the school is also hoping to plan an event to bring together former Whalers who have gone on to professional sports. He cited Reed's brother Jordan and Rajai Davis, a 1999 graduate and current outfielder for Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers.

"They'll always be Whalers," Thompson said.

He hopes to bring the graduates back to talk about how hard work and goal setting can lead to great careers, whether in professional sports or in other professional career endeavors.

List of schools on the Super Bowl High School Honor Roll.

a.hutchinson@theday.com

Twitter: @ahutch411