On Sunday evening, Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid and his wife Tammy Reid conducted a virtual fireside chat for the Latter-day Saints of Greater Kansas City. During the chat, they talked about faith, family and a whole lot of football. You can watch the full discussion with Andy & Tammy here.
Here’s a look at just a few of the things we learned from the discussion:
What football means to Andy Reid
Andy Reid started off with a unique analogy between himself and his desk, he specifically talked about longevity and what has kept him going for so long. The first “leg” of his journey was football. He talked about what football means to him and what it has taught him throughout the years.
“Football has been there since I was born,” Reid explained. “My brother was a football player. I was 10 years younger than him, so when I was born, he was playing. When he left High School, I was eight and now I started playing and then I’ve kept going. I’m doing what I’ve done since I’ve known what a ball is. I love football, I love everything about it. I just think that it’s a microcosm of life. It teaches you so many great values, it teaches you how to work hard. It teaches you what a team is, what teammates are, and how to get along with other individuals in great times and in adverse times. It teaches you honesty — I mean if you’re going to hang with the guys you’ve got to be honest because these guys can read right through you and do it in a heartbeat. It’s a humbling sport — You can be high and then it’ll knock you down if you get too high. You can be too low and then it’s going to crunch you and keep you down. But then it also teaches you that if you get knocked down to come back up, learn from the mistake that got you knocked down, but come back with even more clarity and the reasons why you might’ve been knocked down.”
The final three legs for Reid included his wife Tammy (companionship), Faith and Family. Football also served as a lead-in for the Reid’s to talk about their faith and how it helped them get through many trials personally and professionally.
Super Bowl LIV
Football reached the highest peak for the Reid family during the 2019 season, winning their first Super Bowl championship. Both Tammy and Andy talked about what Super Bowl LIV signified to them.
“All I can say is it was the greatest thing to happen in your career and in our family,” Tammy said. “It was great to have all the kids there and share that with all the people that have gotten us there. I think was the best part. Just being a team and all of that hard work. The hours spent doing it and time away or time together, it was a good cherry on the top of the sundae.”
“We loved the experience of the Super Bowl,” Andy said. “But probably the thing that you cherish the most is the climb — everything that goes into that moment. And then the game. The game was phenomenal. You had the challenges, the ups and downs that we had. These four legs that [we’ve talked about], these are the things that are really the most important things. Not the ring that we’re going to get. Not the celebration. . . but that’s not it. That’s not what it’s all about. . .”
Now the Reid family has a whole new football-related climb ahead of them as the Chiefs attempt to run it back in 2020 and win Super Bowl LV.
Thankful for the little things
It’s important to be thankful for the little things at this time. The one thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the Reid family is more time together.
“This whole shelter-in-place, I was telling some friends that I have not seen [Andy] this much in a row ever,” Tammy said. “Like in our whole Married life. I mean he gets five weeks off for our Summer vacation. I’ve seen him for five weeks but this is, what are we going on eight weeks or something? It has been crazy. I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I’ve seen him this much.’ So we’ve enjoyed a lot more dinners together, which we don’t typically get to do. We’ve DVR’d a lot of shows that we enjoy. . . It has been very different for us but enjoyable to hang out together. We get done after dinner and just sit like old people and watch TV.”
“We are old people,” Andy chimed in.
This just goes to show you the hard work and dedication that Andy puts in and the type of separation that football families are routinely challenged with.
Where did the “Big Red” nickname come from?
You may think that Andy Reid’s signature nickname came when he took the job with the Chiefs, but that’s not the case. The origin story actually dates back long ago, to the time when Reid had hair.
“I was ‘Big Red’, now I’m losing it,” Andy joked. “Now it’s my blood pressure or something that makes me ‘Big Red’ I don’t know.”
“One of my players, [Philadelphia Eagles defensive end] Hugh Douglas, actually named me ‘Big Red’ many years ago when I actually had red hair,” Andy continued.
“And a full head too,” Tammy added.
“He was an All-Pro defensive end that we had with a huge personality,” Andy concluded.
It certainly was fortunate that Reid ended up in Kansas City, where his nickname could continue to thrive.
Andy Reid’s funniest on-field story
Andy Reid has probably forgotten more funny football moments than we’ll ever know. When he was asked about his funniest on-field story he immediately knew which story he was going to tell.
“It is pretty funny, I mean this just doesn’t happen,” Reid began. “Our equipment man in Philadelphia was a fellow named John Hatfield. Now listen, I’ve got a lot of funny experiences but this was a really funny one. So John Hatfield was our equipment man, and again he had just one of these personalities. If you’ve ever seen ‘Piggly Wiggly’ [supermarket chain], you know the trucks that drive by, his face kind of looked like that. But he was an all-time great guy. And so, we’re in the game and Brian Dawkins — who is a Hall of Famer and one of our players in Philadelphia — his facemask breaks. He comes off this field — this is ‘Monday Night Football’ — he comes off the field and his facemask is hanging there. John is like the pit crew at NASCAR. I mean he races up to him, he’s got his bag and he starts working on him and his pants fall down right to the ground. His pants fall down! I can’t even believe that this is happening and I’m standing right there. I can’t believe that my equipment man’s pants have fallen down on ‘Monday Night Football’ and he’s standing there in his boxer shorts and he just completely ignores. The most important thing in his life at that moment was getting that facemask on and getting Brian Dawkins back into that football game and he did it in record time. And then he pulled his pants up and walked away like nothing happened at all. An absolute classic.”
Reid just lit up when telling this story. You can tell that he really got a kick out of that moment and that it’s one of his cherished memories from his time with the Eagles.
Football keeps Andy Reid youthful
If you’re worried about Andy Reid riding off into the sunset after winning Super Bowl LIV, rest assured that he won’t be walking away any time soon. Not only does he have things easy coaching a talented quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, but Reid believes being around the players makes him youthful.
“I get older, but the players stay the same age,” Reid explained. “The faces change, personalities change but the age remains the same. I think that indirectly keeps me young. Then I’m able to bring that home. I try to leave the business at the office, and then when I’m home, I bring the other positive things that I get from these great young men that I get a chance to work with.”
Maybe coach has watched a few too many Matthew McConaughey movies lately, but if he truly believes being around the players he coaches keeps him young, he’ll be coaching until the wheels fall off.
