Kevork Djansezian/Getty There are two things a red carpet correspondent must do at the Oscars: Ask actresses who they're wearing and get teased by George Clooney. It's part of the gig. Until Ed Reed's red carpet segment airs Wednesday night on NFL Network, we won't know whether he asked Halle Berry about her Donatella Versace. He passed the second prerequisite with flying colors. Clooney stopped to talk to Reed, who was a correspondant for Rich Eisen's podcast, on his way into the theater. "You hurt me bad, I'm a Bengals fan." Clooney joked to the All-Pro safety, according to Dan Hanzus of NFL.com. (Via @DanHanzus) It's not weird that Clooney is a Bengals fan -- he was raised in the area, his father was a prominent television personality in Cincinnati and George was once lured to the Ellen show because she promised a meeting with his Reds heroes, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan. But, still, isn't it sort of weird that George Clooney is a Bengals fan? It's so uncool. It's so un-Clooney. That's like finding out Frank Sinatra spent most nights sitting in his boxers, watching Andy Griffith reruns and eating Cheerios straight out of the box. No wonder Clooney doesn't celebrate this fact or try to become the franchise's Jack Nicholson. Being a Bengals fan is damaging to his cool cred. MORE: Oscar winner wears RGIII socks Reed did no damage to his cool cred on Sunday. He wore a black tux and black shoes with purple highlights, a purple bow tie and purple pocket square, of course. "Usually I'm the guy not doing interviews," Reed told Richard Deitsch of SI.com. "I'm focusing on my job. So to do something different was fun. I think I did all right." Buried in that Deitsch column is the news that Rob Gronkowski was originally supposed to be the NFL Network's red carpet correspondent, but pulled out last week. Devastating news. Since Harvey Weinstein seems to have his mitts on everything at the Oscars, I wonder if this was somehow his doing. The possibility of Gronk corrupting Jennifer Lawrence with a wink, some intro to Spanish pick-up lines and a bottle of Budweiser may have been far too risky. Having Gronkowski interview Daniel Day-Lewis while in a tuxedo cut-off and foam dome wasn't the only missed opportunity. Since Ed Reed was in the building, producers should have utilized his talents. Instead of playing the Jaws music to play off long-winded Oscar recipients, Reed should have been stalking the proscenium, ready to strip the statue as necessary. He could have sprinted into the Green Room and placed it into the waiting hands of Clooney. Sure, he's already won a few (and got another Sunday) but even the most successful Bengals fans could use a pick-me-up. 