At the time of year when we take stock of our lives and offer thanks for what we have, I can’t help but feel badly for Andy Reid.
That’s right, I’m saying something nice about the guy we’ve been griping about now for years.
It’s been a fairly horrendous year for the Eagles boss. His team tanked on him last year, and he was left hanging in the wind for a couple of weeks before Eagles owner Jeff Lurie came out of his shell to spend 15 minutes berating the job Reid did, before reversing course and indicating he would give Reid one more year to make amends.
But this summer Lurie added the corollary that another 8-8 year “would be unacceptable.” So Reid now sits at 3-7. Eagles nation is in revolt, demanding his head, either by his own choice or Lurie’s.
And yet as Reid marks this Thanksgiving, I don’t think that’s what’s on his mind.
We demand much of these men. Yes, they are paid handsomely for what they do, but it is easy to forget they are human, and face some of the same problems the rest of us do.
Reid has an added burden this year, one most of us should be supremely thankful we’ll never face.
There will be an empty place at the Reid family Thanksgiving table.
So quickly we forget what Reid lost that August day during training camp at Lehigh.
Maybe it’s because the coach so quickly returned to his job after burying his oldest son, we gloss over the tragedy that rocked his family.
I’d love to see the Eagles turn things around, run off seven straight wins and make the playoffs. I dont' think it's going to happen. We are all in untested territory here as Eagles fans, dealing with the reality of meaningless football games at Thanksgiving.
Reid is dealing with whole different reality. It's likely he is going to lose his job at the end of the season, if not before.
It's nothing compared to what he has already lost.
We forget that too easily.
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