"A Drug Emporium."
That’s pretty strong language.
It wasn’t uttered by Upper Darby tough guy Mike Chitwood, describing the latest scumbag residence targeted in his war on drugs.
No, the comment was made by Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill. It was directed to Andy and Tammy Reid, as a way of describing their home. You’ve probably heard of Reid. His first name is usually preceded by his title, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
But he wasn’t at practice yesterday. He was in a Montgomery County courtroom where his two sons were being sentenced for a couple of traffic incidents that involved drugs and in one son’s case, brandishing a weapon.
The picture of the Reid household that unfolded inside that courtroom is not pretty. It is startling. O’Neill referred to the Eagles’ first family as "a family in crisis."
O’Neill seemed genuinely taken aback, as just about everyone now is, at the conduct of Garrett and Britt Reid, two grown men still living under the roof of their parents.
He flatly questioned how the activity of their two eldest sons, clearly a longtime pattern of drug abuse and gun activity, could have gone so long without intervention by the parents.
O’Neill made it clear he also believed both Reid boys had been overmedicated much of their lives. Britt Reid, 22, who was in court to be sentenced for a road-rage incident in which he brandished a gun at another motorist, who happens to be from Delaware County, had been prescribed as many as five drugs at a time, including Valium, Prozac, Adderall as well as some anti-addiction medicines.
Britt Reid got eight to 23 months in jail. His older brother Garrett, 24, also received jail time, two to 23 months for a serious accident in which he blew through a stop sign and slammed into another car, seriously injuring the woman driver. He admitted being under the influence at the time, having used heroin earlier in the day.
For the first time, both Andy Reid and his wife, Tammy, were in court with their sons. They had no comment as they quickly left the courthouse, while their sons returned to jail.
The judge pretty much said it all. At one point, O’Neill made it clear he wasn’t sure if the Reid house is where the two sons should be once they have done their time.
Today Andy Reid likely will be back at the NovaCare Center.
This is a huge week for Eagles Nation. It is the biggest home game of the season. The Birds play the hated Cowboys, along with Terrell Owens, in a prime-time matchup Sunday night.
Andy Reid is expected to be on the sidelines.
But after hearing what transpired inside that Montgomery County courtroom Thursday, I’m left with only one question.
Why?
That’s pretty strong language.
It wasn’t uttered by Upper Darby tough guy Mike Chitwood, describing the latest scumbag residence targeted in his war on drugs.
No, the comment was made by Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill. It was directed to Andy and Tammy Reid, as a way of describing their home. You’ve probably heard of Reid. His first name is usually preceded by his title, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
But he wasn’t at practice yesterday. He was in a Montgomery County courtroom where his two sons were being sentenced for a couple of traffic incidents that involved drugs and in one son’s case, brandishing a weapon.
The picture of the Reid household that unfolded inside that courtroom is not pretty. It is startling. O’Neill referred to the Eagles’ first family as "a family in crisis."
O’Neill seemed genuinely taken aback, as just about everyone now is, at the conduct of Garrett and Britt Reid, two grown men still living under the roof of their parents.
He flatly questioned how the activity of their two eldest sons, clearly a longtime pattern of drug abuse and gun activity, could have gone so long without intervention by the parents.
O’Neill made it clear he also believed both Reid boys had been overmedicated much of their lives. Britt Reid, 22, who was in court to be sentenced for a road-rage incident in which he brandished a gun at another motorist, who happens to be from Delaware County, had been prescribed as many as five drugs at a time, including Valium, Prozac, Adderall as well as some anti-addiction medicines.
Britt Reid got eight to 23 months in jail. His older brother Garrett, 24, also received jail time, two to 23 months for a serious accident in which he blew through a stop sign and slammed into another car, seriously injuring the woman driver. He admitted being under the influence at the time, having used heroin earlier in the day.
For the first time, both Andy Reid and his wife, Tammy, were in court with their sons. They had no comment as they quickly left the courthouse, while their sons returned to jail.
The judge pretty much said it all. At one point, O’Neill made it clear he wasn’t sure if the Reid house is where the two sons should be once they have done their time.
Today Andy Reid likely will be back at the NovaCare Center.
This is a huge week for Eagles Nation. It is the biggest home game of the season. The Birds play the hated Cowboys, along with Terrell Owens, in a prime-time matchup Sunday night.
Andy Reid is expected to be on the sidelines.
But after hearing what transpired inside that Montgomery County courtroom Thursday, I’m left with only one question.
Why?
Comments
I hope that Andy Reid, coach of the Eagles, soon has his hands full from suing Montgomery County in general and Montgomery County headline-grabbing Judge Stephen O'Neill in specific for saying that the Reid house was a "...drug emporium" and that the Reid family is "...a family in crisis."
Who the heck is Stephen O'Neill to make comments like that? It's not the Reid house or the Reid family in trouble, it's Britt Reid... that judge has absolutely no idea what the Reid house or the Reid family is like, and it is my fondest hope that his speculative, defamatory comments land HIM in court.
Andry Reid is a public figure, as are the Eagles Football Club. Such remarks can and will hurt the press the Eagles receive and, in turn perhaps hurt the profit the team. This sheds a whole different light on the judge's rash comments, a green-tinted light.
Maybe Jeff Lurie and his team of lawyers need to step up here and defend his boy Andy?