<\/p>\n
When Chiefs coach Andy Reid joined the NFL\u2019s exclusive 300-win club with his team\u2019s 23-14 victory over the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Round, he promptly heard from the only living member of that Mt. Rushmore of coaching \u2014 Bill Belichick, both his longtime friend and rival.<\/p>\n
Reid either didn\u2019t immediately remember or quite want to share what Belichick had to say. But when I asked him Thursday if it was along the lines of \u201cwelcome to 300,\u201d Reid laughed and invoked his own weight in the image of the \u201cforktarian\u201d he likes to call himself.<\/p>\n
Belichick is \u201cnever going to really reach the real 300,\u201d he said, meaning pounds. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of cheeseburgers that went into that.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so it goes with Reid, who loves self-deprecating humor any time but especially when he can use it to deflect or downplay the spotlight.<\/p>\n When he was asked earlier in the same interview session about having such success in his 60s, for instance, he said, \u201cI think they put something in the Geritol.\u201d<\/p>\n And asked what it would mean to him to win The Associated Press coach of the year award \u2014 as he deservedly should \u2014 Reid suggested he wasn\u2019t aware he was in contention and added, \u201cYou could\u2019ve just made that up.\u201d<\/p>\n But there\u2019s something more to all this than just the laughs and the humility of a man who always credits everyone around him for his achievements.<\/p>\n While Reid is competitive down to his marrow and every \u2026 single \u2026 cell, in ways that his nuanced public persona may not always show, a key reason for his incredible success isn\u2019t that he is directly concentrating on winning an unprecedented three straight Super Bowls.<\/p>\n Or centered on becoming the winningest coach in NFL history (his 302 victories are 46 away from breaking Don Shula\u2019s record).<\/p>\n Or even preoccupied with the idea of beating the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX for an encore Super Bowl victory over the franchise that let him go after the 2012 season.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is one of the best I ever faced,\u201d Belichick, now the coach at North Carolina, said in an email to The Star. \u201cThis run is one of the best and longest in NFL history. Andy\u2019s accomplishments are extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if such feats may occasionally flicker through Reid\u2019s mind, they certainly don\u2019t occupy it.<\/p>\n As far he\u2019s concerned, that would be like blinding himself by looking directly into the sun.<\/p>\n Or paralyzing himself by looking back or forward too far.<\/p>\n Plus, Reid somehow is both intrinsically driven to give his all and consumed with the so-called precious present.<\/p>\n As sure as his offensive genius and ability to connect with players of every background, this is another of Reid\u2019s superpowers … even if it\u2019s not exactly a glamorous point.<\/p>\n Accordingly, I\u2019m not sure he\u2019s ever even uttered the term \u201cthree-peat.\u201d<\/p>\n If so, Patrick Mahomes said Thursday, it would only be because he was asked about it by the media.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s very locked in on just, \u2018How can we be great with our cadence today at practice?\u2019\u201d Mahomes said.<\/p>\n Evidently referring not to the pace of the session but signal-calling sync, Mahomes added, \u201cSo that\u2019s just the stuff that Coach Reid focuses on.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of \u201cfocus,\u201d it might seem like a dry cliche to say that Reid is virtually always engaged more in process than results.<\/p>\n And not on the destination as much as the journey. And treating every day with the same urgency \u2014 as anyone around him much will say he does.<\/p>\n Or that it\u2019s all about \u201cThe Formula,\u201d the last words the Chiefs see on their way from the GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium locker room to the field.<\/p>\n But the point is more amplified and colorful when you think of it through the lens of this time-honored Vince Lombardi quote:<\/p>\n \u201cI firmly believe that any man\u2019s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle \u2014 victorious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVictorious\u201d is the key term, because that\u2019s the very reason to strive.<\/p>\n But I believe Reid also sees the work itself as a matter of virtue being its own reward.<\/p>\n That notion is reflected in another of my favorite quotes, written by University of Nebraska philosophy professor Hartley Burr Alexander and etched into Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska:<\/p>\n \u201cNot the victory but the action; not the goal but the game; in the deed the glory.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if that sounds lofty, I really think it\u2019s true when it comes to Reid.<\/p>\n For a snapshot of his thinking, let\u2019s to back to training camp at Missouri Western in St. Joseph, where Reid believes the spartan conditions are essential to forming the foundation.<\/p>\n When he referred to the \u201ccinder blocks\u201d of the dorm rooms, he might as well have been speaking about the pillars of, well, the formula.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, there is a certain toughness this game requires \u2026\u201d Reid said there in July, later adding, \u201cWe\u2019ve got that part of it going, and it\u2019s important that you develop that.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are fatigued, then you are going to be fatigued mentally. If you are fatigued physically, that\u2019s going to affect you mentally. And if you are fatigued, period, then you can\u2019t think and you can\u2019t play. At least not to the best of your ability.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the objective here is let\u2019s get ourselves in shape, make sure we are in football shape \u2026 both mentally and physically, so that we can perform at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s forever reinforced by his own example. Even within a profession of workaholics, Reid\u2019s work ethic is legendary.<\/p>\n Because he burns to win, to be sure.<\/p>\n But also because he embraces every step it takes.<\/p>\n When I asked him if he finds the journey to be the most fulfilling part, Reid seemed to agree with the suggestion and said he thinks of himself first as a teacher.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a lot that goes into that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just knowing your stuff, but how it\u2019s presented and the trust that you have in the guys and then the work that goes into each play.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cWhen we see success, we enjoy that; I enjoy that. I enjoy seeing the guys go out and do something good. I\u2019m happy for them, because I know the time and the effort that went into it.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an aptitude part of that, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n He meant in the learning.<\/p>\n But the aptitude, not to mention attitude, starts with the teaching and tone set by a one-of-a-kind force.<\/p>\n In those deeds, the glory \u2014 no matter how much he might try to laugh you off that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThey put something in the Geritol,\u201d said Andy Reid, who loves to use self-deprecating humor to deflect an ever-present spotlight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansas-city-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
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