In fact, reporters must have known the answer when they asked Andy Reid what he was up to for the roughly three millionth time Reid Bowl have to say? Reid, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs for ten years, previously coached the Philadelphia Eagles for 14 years – and they are the opponent in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Reid doesn’t just look like one would imagine an uncle to be, he also behaves like one. He therefore said once again how much he enjoyed his time in Philadelphia, how many friends he still has there and that he naturally wishes the franchise the very best: “I loved every minute there.”
It’s fair to believe Reid, he was very successful in Philadelphia, only he never won the championship there. He became the head coach with the most wins without a Super Bowl victory, and this led to the assessment that he is duped in important games by the opposing coach (usually it was Bill Belichick, New England Patriots) and nerved in significant moments of those games loses. So the more important question for Reid would be this: What has changed since moving to Kansas City? Answer: Great things can sometimes happen when two meet at rock bottom.
It was like this: Reid had coached the Eagles to the worst record of his tenure (4:12) in 2012; his son Garrett had died of a heroin overdose at preseason training camp. The Eagles threw him out a few hours after the last game, and Reid was flown to Kansas City. There the Chiefs had the worst record in franchise history (2:14). During the season, linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend (and his child’s mother) and then committed suicide outside the Chiefs training ground.
Reid and Chiefs owner Clark Hunt were scheduled to meet at the Kansas City airport for a few hours, then Reid was scheduled to fly to Phoenix for an interview with the Arizona Cardinals. Reid and Hunt talked, about football, about loss, about cheeseburgers (Reid’s favorite topic) – and when the last plane to Phoenix for the day left after nine hours, Reid and Hunt agreed that it could work in Kansas City .
In interviews, Reid speaks openly about the dark days of his career
It worked incredibly well because Reid is blessed with the composure of someone who’s been through so much that he’s equally indifferent to the two dazzlers, Triumph and Disaster. He handpicked quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce at the talent fair and formed them into the duo that took the Chiefs to their third playoff in four years and triumph three years ago. He remains completely calm in important moments of big games: After the Super Bowl victory three years ago, after a terrible start, he told Mahomes that he should relax and not act more carefully, that’ll be fine.
He’s as keen on talking to reporters about the quality of the cheeseburgers in town as he is about the quality of their opponents when they’re away from home – the opposite of Belichick, who finds encounters with reporters as gratifying as defeats. Reid and Belichick are geniuses, Reid more the offensive virtuoso, Belichick the brilliant defender. Winning the Super Bowl validated Reid’s belief that you can be both a nice guy and a champion.
When Reid isn’t being asked for tidbits about his time with the Eagles, he’s openly discussing dark days; So also when his son Britt had to go to prison in November because he, then employed as an assistant coach for the Chiefs, had drunk and seriously injured a five-year-old child shortly before the Super Bowl victory in 2020. “I’m sorry for everyone affected; my heart is broken.”
Many players emphasize Reid’s humanity when they talk about him. For example, quarterback Michael Vick, who got a second chance in the NFL from Reid after his prison stay: “He knew everything about me: that I was broke, how I was doing privately, who I was hanging out with. He doesn’t care you as a player, but as a person. We all have problems in life; Reid understands that because he has experienced it himself, repeatedly. What I wish for him: the second title, which will feel so much better than the first.” Even against the old club, where he enjoyed every minute.
