Author: Contributing Writer Chet Cashley of ChetCashley.com
Let’s face it Philadelphia, we’ve got a hard time giving credit where credit is due when it comes to our sports teams, and nobody takes more of a beating from o
ur passionate fans than Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid.
As Philly fans, it’s easy to get frustrated with coaching. Before the Phillies won the 2008 World Series, we’d been in a championship drought that spanned decades in all sports. And not only did we lose, but we had our hearts broken. We’ve been so close to victory that we could almost smell it over the hot dogs and beer, only to have our hopes crushed as we watched our heroes take an opportunity of a lifetime and vomit all over it in the end-zone.
No Philly coach has been responsible for more Philly sports fans’ broken hearts than Eagles’ coach, Andy Reid. Big Andy’s taken the Eagles to the playoffs nine times since taking over the team in 1999. Five out those nine times, we’ve seen his trademark hat and mustache combination on prime-time TV in the NFC Championship Game, resulting in only one Super-Bowl appearance and no ring.
So, we’ve been frustrated. And we’ve taken it on Andy. During the months of February through August in any given year during the past decade, in any part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area, any discussion about the Eagles has included, “We’ve gotta get rid of Reid.”
The frustration has been brutal for the fans, but judging by his actions over the past few years, especially the past few months, no man in Philadelphia, or the entire sports world, is more frustrated than Andy Reid. And man is more determined.
No matter how much trash we talk on this guy, he’s never given up on winning that Super Bowl. Let’s face it, Andy’s working for the toughest fan-base in sports when it comes to losing, and he knows it. He knows we’re tired of the losses and fed-up with going home empty handed, and he knows that he’s criticized mercilessly throughout the Philly sports world.
He’s got a tough job. And the boo’s and the criticism would be enough to destroy any man’s ego. He could have curled up in the fetal position and quit on us, he could have run away to another team with a less demanding fan base, or he could have let the criticism get to his head, let it affect him mentally, and coached .500 teams for the past 10 years.
But he didn’t do any of those things. Andy Reid has shown us, again and again, that he’s here to win. Nearly every year, he’s built a team that’s made us say, “Maybe this year…”
And this year, we’re saying it again. But, this year the moves have been bolder and buzz is bigger than ever. And not only among the fans. When phrases like “Dream-Team” are thrown around by your star players in training camp, you know you’ve got something special. When players are taking pay cuts to play for you, you know you’ve got something special. When the whole sports world stops and looks because of what you’re building, you know you’ve got something special.
This year’s Eagles team is something special. The talent is unmatched by any team in the league, and no coach is better at creating team chemistry than Andy Reid. The Eagles are looking the murderer’s row of the NFL, and assuming that we keep De Sean Jackson, and everybody stays healthy, we might be saying some different things about Andy Reid this February.
Only time will tell what Andy Reid’s Eagles will accomplish this year, but one thing is for sure: Andy’s here to win.
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