Chiefs coach Andy Reid stands with, for the growing call to ensure Black Lives Matter
Ever since his days as a sharp and charismatic University of Missouri assistant coach from 1989-91, I’ve enjoyed knowing Andy Reid at varying degrees of distance and seeing his career blossom through numerous vantage points.
From post-practice sideline conversations in Columbia to his office in Philly, from his first days in Kansas City taking over a reeling franchise to the jubilation of engineering a Super Bowl LIV triumph, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with him about many topics.
Such as his childhood in Los Angeles … why he wouldn’t give John Wayne an extra meatball … his family … his coaching roots in San Francisco … his ongoing relationships with his Mizzou players … and his former interest in becoming a journalist.
Along the way, I’ve had a chance to witness how he’s handled an infinity of questions and situations.
Post-Super Bowl giddiness notwithstanding, as a head coach his public persona has been one of restraint and nuance, with occasional glimpses at his considerable sense of humor.
Even understanding the broader depth and humanity behind the scenes that has made him such a compelling leader, it seemed perhaps we’d seen the range of what he was willing to share with the world.
And leaving many to wonder what remained beneath the wrapper, in a manner of speaking that we’ll get back to.
But on Wednesday, in his first media appearance since the murder of George Floyd beneath the knee of Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin and the ensuing vast protests for social justice, Reid presented a seldom-seen if not unprecedented voice for public consumption.
In animated and stirring style, with what resonated as intense sincerity, he spoke in an introductory five-minute burst of his enthusiasm for the Black Lives Matter movement and young protesters “attacking this thing the right way,” and his pride in Patrick Mahomes and Tyrann Mathieu taking on such a prominent role in “making a statement that allows all of us to be in a better place where love is first.”
The words, and his delivery, made for a fascinating and inspiring look at what Reid is so able to convey to his players and speaks to why so many wanted to see him win a Super Bowl at last.
Those words poured out with such conviction and seeming ease that Reid several times apologized for talking too much.
He didn’t, by the way. At all. And his broader message of listening and pausing to learn about others was the resounding takeaway.
Which brings us back to the matter of wrappers.
From years ago to the present, Reid spoke of some sleight of hand he’s used to make a point.
Basically, he’ll get three kids together to choose among four Blow Pops, one of which will have an intentionally crinkled-up wrapper because Reid has rigged it up to insert a $100 bill inside of it.
“Not one time in the 50 to 100 times I’ve given this talk has anyone picked the wrapper that … looks likes it’s been messed with,” said Reid, speaking in his final scheduled meeting with the media before training camp. “Because people judge by what’s on the outside, what they see, instead of getting in and enjoying what’s inside.
“We’re talking about racial issues. Let’s get in and see what’s inside people. And when you do, you’re going to see beauty, man. There are some beautiful, beautiful people out there that we’re putting walls up against.”
Not Reid, though, something you can know by any engagement with him but further affirmed through his words as he punctuated the point by noting how short our lives are.
Every person he meets, he said, he tries to “look at them for the good.”
“If they prove (the) opposite, then I’ll go that way with it,” he said. “But I’m going to give people an opportunity. I’ve tried to do that throughout my life.”
Indeed, what passionately emerged from inside Reid stems from his own essential wiring and a wellspring of experiences throughout his life.
From his parents, an artist and a radiologist, who taught him a way that included the importance of hearing what’s really being said (a trait that anyone who knows him well can confirm): “I listen,” Reid said, referring to players and assistant coaches, but meaning it more generally. “How important is that? I think it’s a beautiful thing. Dig in and try it.”
Then there’s the fact he grew up in Los Angeles and attended John Marshall High School, which he called a melting pot that included black, Asian, Hispanic and Middle Eastern teammates and a Japanese head football coach.
“You mess with one of them, I’m going to get after you: You know what I’m saying?” he said. “We came together. That’s the team. That’s how I feel. I’m all in. … I see humans. I’m not looking at the wrapper.
“I’m going to look at what’s inside, and I’m going to get in there and I’m going to find out: Are you a good person? Are you willing to work? Do you care about other people? What’s inside? What makes you tick?
“And if I can help it tick a little better, I’ll try to do it. And if you can help take your strengths and help me tick a little better, let’s roll.”
No doubt, now, some will feel Reid should have said more sooner.
Or that he didn’t go far enough since he sidestepped questions about his view on whether players could or should kneel during the national anthem (“This is bigger than that”).
And some will feel he was lavish in calling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell “a stud” for finally saying the NFL was “wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and (encouraging) all to speak out and peacefully protest,” with no explicit apology to Colin Kaepernick.
Even so, belated as it might be, Reid isn’t wrong to point out that Goodell’s stance has changed in this surfacing world of apparently delayed enlightenment that we can only hope is built on substance and not just political expediency.
“To say, ‘I was wrong,’ how many of us have a hard time saying that?” Reid said. “And time can do that to you, right? We’ve all been in that position where things change. It’s changing right now. How great is that? Every generation has changed in some way to get us to this point, and now we get to put it down and end it.”
Reid’s spirit is part of a solution, both in terms of the empathy that is so crucial to his achievements as a coach and who he is and in the way he articulated it on Wednesday.
From acknowledging the heartbreak of the Floyd video and ongoing history of authoritarian abuse of black men to the “chills” he says he’s felt seeing “all races supporting Black Lives Matter,” Reid made a substantial statement.
“I’m doing way too much talking here,” he said. “The talking needs to stop, and we need to dig in and let’s go.”
Including remembering the value of looking for more within the wrappers … as Reid both pointed out and demonstrated to be worthwhile himself.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Chiefs coach Andy Reid stands with, for the growing call to ensure Black Lives Matter."