Chiefs: Reiding Reid Without Reading
Laddie Morse
Sometimes it’s hard to get a good read on the Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid. So, sometimes you have to Reid him, if you want to get a good read on him. To more readily understand Andy Reid we must first take a look at who he really is. Bransen Gibson at ArrowheadAddict recently said of Reid: “Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is known as a warm, friendly character….” and furthermore, we also know he’s a family man. In fact, he runs his team as a family. That may also be why so many of his former players refuse to talk badly about him after leaving. Although, enough of those former players have spoken up recently, for us to get a better idea of who he is, or what he believes.
That kind of genuine family guy approach has gotten Reid a lot of power in the Chiefs organization and beyond. Is he perfect? Heck, he’ll tell you he’s not, but his power can be so overwhelming that it can get you fired if you’re not careful. Three years ago, Kevin Kietzman who used to serve as the afternoon voice of the WHB 810 radio, said something out of bounds about Reid and it got him fired. He said this referring to Reid helping Tyreek Hill (when he couldn’t help his own son):
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“The thing is, (the Chiefs) probably think (Reid) can fix (Hill), but they thought they could fix him before and they failed…. Andy Reid does not have a great record of fixing players. He doesn’t. Discipline is not his thing. It did not work out particularly well in his family life, and that needs to be added to this, as we’re talking about the Chiefs. He wasn’t real great at that either. He’s had a lot of things go bad on him, family and players.”
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That was the same year, 2019, that the Chiefs drafted speedy WR Mecole Hardman in the possible hopes that he could replace Hill… if need be. Of course, things didn’t turn out that way and Hardman hasn’t been the kind of #1 WR we all hoped he’d become in the process.
The real power of Andy Reid comes in the form of his being a formidable father-figure to everyone he has on his team, including the coaches. Reid has long been a giver of second chances and that not only includes players like Terrell Owens, but includes estranged QB Michael Vick. Vick once said of Reid:
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“I can say that while coach has been in my presence, while I’ve been here, he’s been a sort of father figure. [As] a father figure, you’re mentoring someone, anyone you care about, you’re gonna tell them the right things to do, the correct way to do things at the right time, and give them advice when they need it. And that person needs to be open and easy to talk to. That’s a father figure. I can honestly say he’s been the substitute for the man in my life that I don’t have right now.”
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That’s where Andy Reid’s real power is: as a family man. So, when reporters ask silly questions, he sometimes tries to set them straight as well. Again, from a July piece by Bransen Gibson:
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“… earlier this week when asked about Tyreek Hill’s comments in a preview of the wide receiver’s forthcoming podcast. Reid bristled at a reporter who asked him about the comments, with Big Red dismissing it as a “dumb question” before promptly moving along.”
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“Dumb question”… hmm! Still, Andy Reid will not tolerate absurd questions, especially when they cover subjects which he sees as being, “below him,” like a year ago when Soren Petro of WHB asked Reid about Tyreek Hill [illegally] taking his helmet off after scoring a TD, to which Reid commented:
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“I’m still irritated about your question about Tyreek taking his helmet off yesterday, and expect more professional questions. As for your first question, again I expect you to ask better, more professional questions.”
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Better, more professional questions?” Was that just Reid playing father superior… or? Some coaches believe that not all questions are questions they should have to answer. We certainly know how the New England Patriots HC, Bill Belichick, deals with questions he doesn’t like — he just doesn’t answer — which is most of them. The flip side of that overtime coin is… a Dallas based Sports talk show (and more) used to show up at the NFL Combines, and on Super Bowl Media weeks, then ask famous people the strangest and weirdest questions possible. So, we know this does have it’s limits.
However, that doesn’t place those coaches in-the-right for not answering reasonable in-town media questions. Correct?
Last year, both Coach Reid and Patrick Mahomes were going through some important life altering changes. Mahomes was having a baby and getting used to waking up in the middle of the night to help walk his daughter, Sterling Skye. Andy Reid was still dealing with his son Britt Reid, who had been drinking and driving then plowing his truck into a car with a child in it, Ariel Young, causing her a traumatic brain injury, just three days before the Super Bowl vs the Bucs. Lost in the story is that Felicia Miller, Ariel’s mother, said she could see him coming in the rear view mirror and when he hit their car everyone was knocked out — Reid was traveling 84 MPH in his truck — then, when Miller came to, her daughter Ariel could not remember who she was. Six people were injured in the accident caused by Britt Reid.
Further, it was just one week ago today, that Britt Reid pleaded guilty to felony driving while intoxicated from the 2021 crash. Britt Reid was given a plea deal by the Prosecutors, to which the family of Ariel Young did not agree.
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Now, I understand that we’re in the middle of a season, but there was not one question at Reid’s most recent Press Conference on Sunday about his son, or Ariel Young, nor the six other hurt in his son’s accident. Is that the responsibility of the Chiefs organization to ask those questions? Not really. It’s the responsibility of the Kansas City Chiefs media to ask those important questions. Yes. I say yes. Period.
In Andy Reid’s Press Conference two days ago called: “Andy Reid: “There was a lot of excitement in the air” | Press Conference 9/19″ he said nothing, and was asked nothing about his son nor the accident. Here’s that press Conference:
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What Andy Reid did say, was way back last year, the day after the Chiefs Super Bowl Loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He said:
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“I know I haven’t had a chance to address you since the accident happened that my son was involved in. My heart goes out to all those who were involved in the accident, particularly the family with the little girl who’s fighting for her life.”
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Where is his heart now?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne