Philadelphia Eagles: Reflecting on Andy Reid’s evolving legacy
As Andy Reid cements his legacy with the Kansas City Chiefs, his time with the Philadelphia Eagles set the groundwork for a Hall of Fame coaching career.
Andy Reid coached the Philadelphia Eagles for 14 years.
Over that tenure, Reid amassed a 130-93-1 regular-season record, earned nine playoff berths, and took his team to one glorious Super Bowl berth capping off the 2004 season; the team’s first Super Bowl berth since 1980.
While Reid hasn’t been with the team since 2012, it felt like an inevitability that Big Red would forever be remembered as an Eagle when he eventually decided to hang up his oversized windbreakers a la LeSean McCoy (more on that here).
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Now, that may no longer be the case.
In case you are somehow living under a rock or spent your Sunday night watching The Rock in a Redbox copy of Hobbs and Shaw, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. The game was pretty good, the half time show doubled gym memberships nationwide, and Bill Murray reunited with Punxsutawney Phil some 26-years later.
It was no Super Bowl 52, but really, what is?
By finally winning the big one, Reid has cemented his place as one of the best coaches in NFL history and could have punched a ticket to the NFL Hall of Fame, but when that day comes, hopefully, many years down the line, which team will he be remembered for, the Eagles or the Chiefs?
That’s a pretty interesting question.
Unlike the MLB, the Pro Football Hall of Fame doesn’t induct members on a specific team, instead busting their likeness and pairing it with a title card listing their name, position, and tenures by team in chronological order. So regardless of whether Reid coaches for five more years or fifty, his tenure in the City of Brotherly Love will never truly be expunged.
However, after grinding away for 21 fruitless seasons without a title, Reid’s Super Bowl win behind third-year league MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes will certainly hold considerable weight when evaluating his legacy.
Do you know what else will affect Reid’s legacy? KC’s Super Bowl drought. After suffering through a Philadelphia-esque 50-year Super Bowl drought, Big Red finally delivered the state of Missouri their second title in franchise history. While that wouldn’t be a huge deal for some franchises – a certain red, white, and blue team whose moniker rhymes with ‘hate my guts’ – it will surely cement Reid into the upper echelon of KC’s coaching kingdom.
Much like Bud Light’s statuesque ode to the Philly Philly outside of the Linc, Reid may eventually be immortalized outside of Arrowhead Stadium and should enter the team’s franchise Hall of Fame almost immediately after he retires. Reid only needs 22 more wins to pass Marty Schottenheimer as the winningest coach in franchise history, an almost inevitable fate that he may accomplish before the end of the 2021 season.
To put it simply, Andy Reid will certainly go down as a top-tier coach in the annals of Eagles history, but he’s on track to become the man in Kansas City.
And honestly, that’s great.
As evidenced by the sheer outpouring of support Andy Reid has received over this current playoff run, Philadelphia Eagles fans fully support their former coach, and couldn’t be prouder of his success. He has a Super Bowl, we have a Super Bowl, what could be better? A Super Bowl LV showdown, that’s what.