The verdict is in...........

I hope I do this giving justice....

Come and listen to a story about a man named Andy....

You mean Griffith?  No.  Oh, then, that pizza joint in North Myrtle Beach, Famous Andy's?  No.

Andy Reid.  You HOMER! BORING! There are a kajillion good coaches in the NFL.. I ain't a Chief's fan, WHY should I read?

Reid, please trust me.

One of Andy's qualities - his preparation.  I'll never ever hold a candle to him in that area, but I kinda sorta feel like I know (of) him, OK.  Years (and years) of observing from afar (BYU, MU, San Francisco State, Green Bay, Philly, and much more.  Then, close up, here in Kansas City...   Days after being dumped by Philly... a plane trip and three head coaching interview setup - first stop, Kansas City.  He never got off the plane.  Clark Hunt liked, loved him so much - the feelings were mutual, he agreed to become the head coach in KC, canceled all his other interviews.

Boring Victor.  Mebbe.  Back to preparation.  Watching with real eyeballs ain't enough..  I (always) go to Wiki.  Gotta learn the basics.  Then, at the bottom of Wiki there was an article written before he'd ever won a Super Bowl.  To me, reading it was exhaustively yummy.  It was like a trip through THE BEST buffet you ever seen. Diversity in foods (Owners, GM's, Players, co coaches, Assistant coaches, Trainers, longtime friends) and.. the excitement of going back to get a new plate (feed me more Seymour) to continue to the superlatives of 'Reid', eat.

I went back thru and highlighted some'a the descriptors, I found.  Bear wit' me.

Vibrant. Big smiley baby face, grandfatherly way even when he was young, no stone left unturned. Teddy Bear and a gentleman. dry sense of humor.

That's a start, Family, HUGE (in stature yes, but too) in family. Mom, a Doctor, an unbelievable analytical mind, dad an artist, outside the box thinking. So a little art and a little science in his football.

His affinity for all things passing (QB's, formations, motion, routes, plays, yada) probably originated with his first "Bomb" way back in the day as a kid on Holly Knoll Drive in LA.  He, his buddies, took a section of gutter to the toppa the hill, loaded a shot put in it, and leggo, thinking it would go harmlessly into the curb below.  Soon, they were in awe as they watched... at 40 mph, it jumped the curb, goes airborn, BOOM through one car door, out the other... he, his buddies, scattered like cockroaches.

Andy was XXL before Double XL was cool.  If you've ever seen the Punt Pass and Kick picture of him when he was 13, he was literally TWO feet taller than the rest.

Back to family and the importance of. "It didn't matter if you were new to the team, that man knew your name, your family's names, where you were from, everything. He would call guys up, undrafted guys and ask them, "Hey, how's Betty?" And guys would be like, "Oh, how'd he know?  Big Red just asked me how my mom is doing!"

With the 2nd pick in the 1999 draft, to Philly folks, it was a given it'd be running back Ricky Williams of Texas. Andy, then, head coach AND GM, was adament, nope, Donovan McNabb, QB, because of his ability to make plays on his own, and, a personality, part joker, part general, that reminded Andy of Farve (when Andy was with Green Bay.)

That year, the Eagles lost their first four games.  QB then, Doug Peterson, somehow survived the first half beating from the 10-0 Dallas Cowboys.  Fans were SCREAMING "PLAY MCNABB! F-REID! PLAY MCNABB!"  An assistant walked up to Andy.. "PLEASE play McNabb...they're throwing batteries at us, I don't wanna get killed."  Andy answered, knowing Donovan wasn't ready, "I'm going to do what I'm going to do and I don't care what you guys are thinking." Somehow, lo and behold, they rally, upset the Cowboys 13-10.

In the early morning of August 5, 2012, after a long battle with drug addiction, Reid's oldest son Garrett, a strength and conditioning coach for the Eagles, was found dead from an accidental heroin overdose in his dorm. He was 29.  John Banner, then Eagles President "I remember the funeral vividly. It was a testament to him and to all the relationships he's built in and out of the NFL.  The line just went on forever.'

Fletcher Cox, Eagles defensive tackle, "I had just lost my grandmom and had to go home my rookie year. Andy and I were talking about how important family is, and a week or so later he had the death of his son. I'll always remember that conversation with him.

John Harbaugh, then Ravens coach, and an assistant for Andy in Philly for 9 years... "I always saw a 3-by-5 card right behind Andy's desk. It had two words written on it: Don't judge, and I never asked him about it because it was pretty clear-cut what it means.  It's a biblical principle, but the point of the whole thing was: Take people for who they are and for where they're at in their life, as football players, as coaches, whatever, and let them be who they are."

Steve Mariucci, who coached with Andy in Green Bay, "Andy's a compassionate guy. You see it in how he handles players who have been down and out, and he's one of those guys who believes strongly in second chances in life.  Some guys are not willing to do that, but he tries to help guys who have had indiscretions. Takes them under his wing, tries to help them through. And I think that goes back to Garrett."

After Garrett's death, the Eagles season staggered through at 4-12.  After a 42-7 loss to the NY Giants, the Eagles reluctantly fired Andy. Andy got one more chance to talk with the team. When he finished, his players sent him off with a standing ovation.  That just doesn't happen.

Rick Burkholder, then Eagles trainer (now Chief's trainer) "The day we were leaving Philly, when the party was officially over, my two daughters called me and said "We want to see Coach Reid." I said, "Why?" And they said "What if we never get to see him again?" I mean, these are 12 and 9 year old girls! So I called Andy, "I know you're having a hell of a day, but my girls want to see you."  "Bring 'em up."

Everything wasn't (yet) up to date in Kansas City. In 2015, the Chiefs started 1-5. Andy stood in front of the team, "Look, no one's losing their job, no one's getting fired, no one's getting demoted or cut.  We're not gonna change a thing. We're just gonna practice harder and believe in each other and get this right." The players looked around and they didn't know a coach could be that way, steady and even, without having to yell or scream or cuss.  Ten wins later, the Chiefs were 11-5 and in the playoffs.

Steve Spagnuolo, Chief's Defensive Coordinator. "I feel a sense there's a more relaxed Andy Reid who is enjoying what he's doing tremendously.  I really see that. We are in offices that back up to each other, side by side, so we can both look out the window and see the same thing. And we're both early morning guys. When I look out the window and see a beautiful sunrise, I'll take a picture and text it to Andy, who is literally on the other side of the wall.  After I send the picture, always, a comment comes back or a smiley face or a text that says something like "We have the greatest jobs in America."

The life of a professional football coach is, obviously, extremely stressy and time consuming.  All those around KC, find a new pep-in-the-step of Andy since he's become a grandfather. It's always, back to family.

Along comes Mahomes. Burkholder "I've never seen Andy sit down during a game, so the first time he went and sat down next to Mahomaes, as a medical guy, my thought was "Is there something wrong with him?" I don't say anything, I just watch him. He's teaching this kid like when I was a little kid and my dad sat down with me after baseball practice. That's the grandfather part of Andy.  That's the part that's different than before.

Remember the Chiefs having the AFC Championship game against the Patriots wrapped up, and then Dee Ford stepped offsides, Patriots cashed in on the second chance.. No Super Bowl for Andy.  Spagnuolo "I talked to him three days after the game and I don't think the conversation ever went back to that game.  All he wanted to talk about was going forward.  Typical Andy."

Tackle Eric Schwartz "The outside world was talking about the offside thing with the Patriots, but he (Andy) was talking about how everyone in this room was probably 4 inches off at some point in the game.  We all could have been 4 inches better, that was his message."

Burkholder "He's probably had as much of an effect on my life as anybody but my father. Great teams, the playoffs, through hell with injuries and deaths and victories and losses and everything."  Burkholder went on to say "If he ever wins a Super Bowl he's a shoe-in for Canton." We now know how that went.

Burkholder s'more "I've known Shady (LeSean McCoy) since high school.. and when he chose to sign here, I said "Why us bro? Is it because of Mahomes?" and  he goes "Pat? No, man, it's because of Andy." How many people take less money and a backup role just to play for a man? And then, we were in a hotel in LA and Terrell Owens came to our hotel just to see Andy.. TO, the guy Andy fired wanted to come see him and talk to him.  You want to talk about legacy? Andy's been in the NFL for 21 years and I don't think he has a single enemy."

Fast forward to today.  The Chief's past year (6-11) is not what we've been used to of late.  If you've got two bucks, or heck, probably five now, there's an article in the KC paper this morning addressing that exact thing....... and... the excitement of Andy Reid readying, looking forward to... is certainly predictable, and for those in life he's touched, fans, players, coaches, teammates, etc., we're lucky to have been a part of his life ride.

I stole a lot, from an article by ESPN's David Fleming from January 19, 2020 entitled "Mahomes, Farve and other NFL stars reveal the larger-than-life tales behind Andy Reid.

I love my ex, but she always reminded me, "Victor, perhaps not everyone is excited about your ideas as you." And, I get it.  Still, I recommend the article, there's so much more in it, including when Reid and Mariucci had just been hired by Green Bay, they, unbeknownst to each other, were staying in the same motor lodge a day before going house hunting, fire alarm went off... Mariucci, ran outside in his tightie whities, looked, three doors down, "Reid?", yep, in his tightie whities... Talked, finally, "He, wanna meet my wife?" so there they were, the four of them, the gals with blankies wrapped around em and tightie whities and all'. 

Or, the time Mariucci and Reid went to Prime Quarter for a 40 ounce steak.. "Eat it in under an hour you get your picture on the wall."  Mariucci, 30 minutes, Andy, 19! Picture is still there!

Sometimes life is like taking a walk in the backyard, dog poop ALLOVER.  It's refreshing, to have in our own backyard, someone kind, consistent, and as genuine as Andy Reid,  Even a Bronco's fan like Terry might at least appreciate, admire him.

Love, Victurd