Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the NFL, but on a personal level he has had to suffer the addiction problems of two of his sons, one of whom died a decade ago from an overdose.
Reid had five children with his wife Tammy, whom he married in 1981: Britt, Garrett, Drew Ann, Spencer and Crosby.
In 2012, the coach suffered the death of his oldest son, Garrett, from a cocaine overdose. Garrett was 29 years old and at the time of his death was at Lehigh University in Easton. At the time, Andy was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, the team he will face on Sunday in the Super Bowl.
His other son, Britt, is in prison for drunk driving
Britt Reid, his youngest son, was for eight seasons one of several assistant coaches for the Chiefs, until just days before Super Bowl LV, which they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Three days before Super Bowl LV, Britt crashed into another car, which included a 5-year-old girl who was injured. The problem is that Britt was driving while intoxicated, for which he was arrested and taken to jail.
Britt’s alcohol levels were 0.113, well above the maximum allowable level of 0.08. The incident probably would not have escalated except that the girl who was injured was in a coma for 10 days and then had to relearn how to walk.
In September 2022, Britt Reid pleaded guilty to the charges and in November was sentenced to three years in prison. He was taken into custody shortly after sentencing.
Britt Reid was previously sentenced to 23 months in prison, in 2007, after a judge found that he ran a “drug emporium” out of the Reid residence, along with his brother Garrett. That same year, Britt was sued for pointing a gun in a person’s face following a road rage incident.
He has been credited with turning the football franchise around entirely. As former Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson explained to ESPN in January 2023, “It’s amazing to see what the Chiefs have become. From where we were when Andy came in to where they are now, you wouldn’t believe it if you didn’t see it for yourself.”
Prior to coaching the Chiefs, Andy Reid served as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. He is now set to face off against his former team in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12, 2023.
Beyond coaching football, Reid is also a father of five children. He was also once an aspiring sportswriter, and in 2017 he told The Kansas City Star that the job made sense while he was in college. Reid said, “There’s a point in college where you’re not exactly sure what direction you’re going, but I always thought it would be fun to write for Sports Illustrated.”
From his time coaching the Philadelphia Eagles to winning a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs, here’s everything to know about Andy Reid.
Reid was raised in Los Angeles and grew up only minutes away from Dodger Stadium where played Little League in Elysian Park as a child, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Our ballpark was right there where the players came out, and they used to stop by,” Reid told the Inquirer in 2008. “I had a Steve Yeager catcher’s mitt and a Manny Mota bat. They always gave us stuff.”
He also reportedly worked as a food vendor at Dodger Stadium when he was a teenager.
Reid attended Brigham Young University, which is where he met his wife, Tammy Reid. While a student at BYU, the future NFL coach studied journalism and played college football — a fitting precursor for becoming a great football coach.
As Tammy later told the Chiefs, she was in the stands when Reid played one of the most important games of his collegiate career, the 1980 Holiday Bowl. Tammy told the outlet that despite the fact that BYU was down, she believed the team would still win — which they did with only four minutes left in the match. She shared, “That was my first experience with football and trusting that no matter how bleak it looks, I always believe Andrew and his guys will figure out a way to do it.”
His professional coaching career began with the Green Bay Packers, where he served as an assistant coach. Reid later joined the Philadelphia Eagles as head coach in 1999. Three years later, he was named the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the team.
In 2010, Bleacher Report credited Reid as being a true driving force behind the team and noted that he “turned a franchise tied for last in the league under former coach Ray Rhodes to a perennial playoff contender.”
Reid coached the Eagles for 14 seasons from 1999 to 2012.
