Plight of Andy Reid

Andy Reid is the most successful head coach in the long and storied history of the Philadelphia Eagles. He has a career winning percentage of .621. He won four division titles and four trips to the NFC championship game from 2001-2004. He has won more playoff games (7) game any other coach in their history. He's part of the Bill Walsh coaching tree of success. And from all accounts, he's a good guy. He may also be unemployed at the end of the season. Reid managed to get the Eagles to four straight NFC championship games, only to lose to the Rams, Tampa Bay and Carolina. When they finally managed to break through and make it to the Big Dance, they lost on a memorable last second field goal by Adam "Mr. Clutch" Vinateri. Since that time, Reid has had to deal with the T.O. fiasco, the loss and subsequent questioning of his biggest star, QB Donovan McNabb and whether or not he's the guy to lead this team. McNabb hasn't finished the season the last 3 out of 5 years and his toughness and heart are constantly under scrutiny and now folks are questioning whether or not he will ever be the same QB as he was before. This year's team has suffered more than its fair share of injuries and along with all this, Reid has had to deal with the very public legal problems of his two sons, Garret and Britt. Both of the Reid boys are now back in jail once again on a variety of charges ranging from drug and weapons charges to hit and run and a probation violation for failing a drug test. This is every parent's worse nightmare, watching your children on a path of self-destruction. It's even worse when it is played out in the media. While New York may be considered the toughest media market to deal with, Philadelphia has its own special brand of cruelty that is unrivaled anywhere else. Philadelphia fans and media are notoriously rude, vulgar and downright nasty when it comes to their sports teams and since they haven't had a lot to cheer the last few years in any sport, they take it out on the players, coaches and owners. The fact the Reid has been able to sustain all this with an unblieveable amount of decorum and dignity shows the kind of man he is. There are those in the City of Brotherly Love that are calling for Reid's resignation, saying that he's not focused on winning this year and needs to step away from the game. No one outside of Philly would blame him for taking off and dealing with these situations. The Eagles are 3-4 right now and unless they go on a roll, they are probably not looking at a shot in the playoffs this year. Dallas is coming to town this weekend and with their decimated secondary, it could get ugly. But I'm going to be rooting for the Eagles this weekend. I'd like to see them run the table, make it in the playoffs, even to the Superbowl if they can. Not because I love Philadelphia, I'm an Andy Reid fan.