November 17, 2021 • 44 mins
Host Andrea Kremer takes us back to 2010 when NFL Films' Steve Sabol interviewed Head Coach Andy Reid. Coaching the Philadelphia Eagles at the time, Andy discussed his childhood growing up in Los Angeles and how he decided to get into coaching while at BYU. Andy reveals the advice given to him by Bill Parcells about coaching in Philadelphia and explains his relationship with the tough Eagles fans. Steve walks Andy through the Eagles making the tough decisions of trading QB Donovan McNabb and deciding to sign QB Michael Vick.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
I'm Pro Football Hall of Fame journalist Andrea Kramer, and
welcome to NFL Films Tales from the Vault. In this
weekly podcast, you'll get to hear for the first time
raw unedited conversations between Steve Sable and some of the
greatest figures to play and coach pro football. Now. When
I started my career as NFL films first female producer,
(00:27):
Steve was my boss and mentor, and I learned the
art of interviewing from him. Over his five decades at
NFL Films, the men who made the game, as Steve
liked to call them, sat down with him because of
the trust and respect they had for Steve, and as
you'll hear, he would ask them anything. So think of
(00:48):
the show as a time capsule taking you to a
specific period in a player or coaches career. It's time
to go inside the Vault of NFL Films. And in
case you're wondering, it's not an exact adderation. It's literally
a fireproof fault with over fifty thousand cans of film.
That's three hundred and thirty three thousand football fields worth
(01:10):
of film. For those of you scoring at home, our
weekly journey through NFL History kicks off with head coach
Andy Reid. When Steve visited Andy Reid in in his
(01:34):
suburban Philadelphia home where he lived with his wife, Tammy
and their five kids, and he wasn't yet a Super
Bowl champion, and Patrick Mahomes he was a freshman in
high school when this interview was recorded. Reid had just
completed his eleventh season in Philadelphia and was the most
successful coach the Eagles ever had, But Reid was approaching
(01:54):
across roads in his career. He was just two months
removed from trading the winning his quarterback in franchise history,
Donovan McNabb to Washington. Andy shares with Steve what went
into that decision, as well as how struggles in his
personal life affected and guided some of his decisions as
a coach. What you're here today is not Andy Reid's
(02:17):
Super Bowl winning guru, but Andy Reid, aged fifty two,
a man who had found himself but hadn't yet found
a championship. So remember that great sportscaster Warner Wolf. He
used to say, let's go to the videotape. Well, I
say let's go to the vault. Here's Steve Sable and
Andy Reid real. They got like twenty questions that a
(02:41):
lot of it's just going to be I'm just talk
to you about coaching, and um, there's a couple of
quotes that I have from other coaches that I just
wanted you to react to. You know, we all said,
all right, you know, when I'm walking around this house,
there's so many you know, Chaka's trinkets and stuff. You're what,
what's your most prize possession in this whole house. I know,
(03:05):
you know Bill Parcel has always had that the elephants
and stuff. But I'm looking with all the quilts and
is this all Tammy? This is I'm just wrinten here.
So I've got a little cubby hole over in the
corner here office and uh yeah, I've got a little
baseball collection that I kind of cherish, and you know,
(03:26):
but there's, um, most of my things are actually at
the office and so yeah, but that baseball collection and
then some of the awards are are great, and h
the thing you probably cherished most of your family, So
I cherished people that are in the house as opposed
to all the little trinkets in the house. But you know,
there's some neat things I've got a couple of paintings
of my father painted that are close to my heart.
(03:47):
So your dad was an artist, right that. Yeah, my
dad was an artist, and uh, and I was able
to you know, artists are, they're a little you know this,
artists are, they're out of the box thinker man. And
so uh with that, he had a big heart and
he would paint something up and he would give it
away or he'd sell it. And but I was able
(04:09):
to My brother and I were able to sneak a
couple of things from him, and uh, you know it's
they're great, great things to have in the house and
and to pass down, you know, through the through the
years to the family. A long time ago, we did
an interview with Bear Bryant when I was in the
locker room with him and he had a shirt on
and he had a hole in the shirt. And you know,
(04:29):
I said, Coach Briant, I actually I didn't have to
ask him, but I said, you had a you think
you could universal Alabama could do a little better than that.
And he said no. He says, I put that whole
in my shirt purposely because it reminds me of where
I've come from. Is there anything like that that that
that you've got maybe in your office or here, that
(04:49):
that that is a reminder of how far that you've come. Well,
I've got everything from high school, my my wife, I
get my mom kept it and then my wife took
it after my mom passed away. And and so you
know we've got a little that of the high school
stuff and the junior high school things, and and that
was that was a great upbringing. Where I grew up
in Los Angeles so well it was. Uh, I grew
(05:12):
up in a multi racial area and so right below
Dodger Stadium, I got to be around all different kinds
of people, saw the good and everybody um and and
I understood that whether it didn't matter the religion, the
faith that creed, it didn't matter. These were good people
and we all joined together. And then I ended up
going to bring him Young University. And if I had
(05:33):
to do it all over again, I go to bring
him Young University. Uh. It was life changing experience. My
my playing career was I got the opportunity I got
was I had a chance to play every position. I
was like the John Havelchek of the offensive line. I
got to play every position. And uh, um, I loved
every minute of it. I played for two seasons. Did
(05:56):
you realize at that point that you wanted to be
a coach or did you think that maybe you could
play in the NFL? Actually I was kind of heading
towards My mother was a doctor, and so I was.
I was thinking about going into medical school. So I
had set everything up where I could do that. And uh,
Lavell Edwards was my head football coach and during my
senior year, he said, have you ever thought about going
(06:17):
into coaching? And I said, well, I really, you know,
I hadn't thought about that. He goes, you know, I
think you would be pretty good at that. You might
want to look at it. I remember calling my parents
were going, hey, you know what, Um, I might switch
my major heir and going to going to coaching, And
I remember I remember my mom going. My mom and
(06:38):
dad were both on the phone, and my my dad
he was he was cool with him. My my mom goes, well,
you know, it's not like jail. You can always get
out now. Bill Parcels he was telling me, he said,
talking about head coaching, he said, nine of your time
is spent being disappointed and not meeting your expectations. Is
(06:59):
that just him or or could you say that about
all all coaches? I mean, that's a pretty bleak assessment
of your profession if you're saying ninety percent of the
time you're going to be disappointed. Yeah, you know, I
don't think of it that way. Now you're talking about
one of the all time great coaches and a very
good friend of mine. So I the way I look
at is I kind of take the other approach maybe,
(07:20):
and I say, I'm one of the luckiest guys in
the world to be doing what I'm doing. I mean,
I'm one of thirty two people in the whole world
that gets coaching the National Football League. And that's why
I wake up, man, I wake up and I'm fired up.
Every day is a new day. And uh, through thick
and thin, and we've had our trials and tribulations on
the field and off the field as a family as
(07:41):
a team, and I just you keep working through it
and listen, there are highs and lows and every everybody's life, um,
and you kind of keep your faith and you keep
pushing and normally good things happen. So that's that's kind
of the approach I've taken. I've taken that with my players,
with the coaches, and with my family now more. You
just talked about highs and lows, and I was just
(08:03):
looking at your record five NFC championship games, and only
Bill Belichick has a better winning percentage than you do.
Only Jeff Fisher has longer tenure than And we're talking
about highs and lows. If I wanted to take one
play or one game from your career here with the
Eagles and put it in a time capsule in a
(08:26):
hundred years from now, somebody wanted to know something about
Andy Reid as a coach, what would you want them
to see in that in that time capsule. I'd probably
take that second season when you go from five and
eleven to eleven and five, and the way the players
and coaches didn't give up hope after that first year.
We had a lot of veteran players and I team
very easily. They could have gone, you know what, this
(08:47):
young guy right here, this young Choby ridhead, he's out
of his mind. But they didn't. They all rallied in.
They bought in the Troy Eventsuce. All these guys bought in.
They bought in the Donovan they bought into Andy and
and uh, you know went on to change that thing around.
So that whole season I think was a phenomenal just
a phenomenal thing, at least in my my heart it is.
(09:08):
And then the other one is an NFC championship game
that we won to put us in a super Bowl.
Standing in Lincoln Financial Field, it's cold. I've got like
a gatorade bath on me that's frozen. It's so cold
that the gatorade bath froze. I'm sitting there and the
fans they wouldn't leave, they were out of their mind.
And that that was a great that was a great feeling. Um,
(09:30):
let's switch it around to the other thing. That the
other the valley where a lot of coaches will say
that that you learn from defeat, that that what defeat
has had the most profound effect on you as a coach.
I think the ones that make you the strongest as
you're losing that NFC championship game, especially as many times
(09:52):
we have that, that's uh, that makes you strong. Now,
it also makes your drive even greater to get to
that that super Bowl and to win the super Bowl.
So uh, you probably put those games along with um,
you know that the loss in the Super Bowl, that
that drive you to that ultimate thing, which is winning
(10:15):
the Super Bowl. And I think as coaches in the
National Football League, and I would put this in the
hundred percent more, we are all striving to do that
with our football team. I think every player in the
National Football League is striving to go get that ring.
And uh, those games right there, those five games, those uh,
they they're the ones that probably have the most profound
(10:38):
impact on me as a coach. What are you what
are you afraid of as a coach? I mean there
must be some fear every week that that the same
thing that must come back or is it? Is it
different each week? You know? I remember my first year
and we weren't very good. I think we went either
four or five games of just getting our tail chick
(11:00):
for anything positive happened. And I remember sitting in my
office and I didn't want to come on. I didn't
want to see the coaches, I didn't want to see
the players, and I surely didn't want to drive home,
especially when those flyer games were let out next to
the vet and they would be saying, hey, you know,
you need to get your fat butt back to Green Bay,
you know, one of those deals literally and uh and
so uh. I was kind of hiding out and I
(11:22):
got a phone call from Parcels actually and he goes,
he had told me this when we played him in
the preseason. He said, listen, you are in the roughest
place in the National Football League. He says. The fans
are passionate, and the media they want to rip your
head off. And I've coached it both New York teams.
(11:44):
I've coached it New England. You're in a rough spot.
He says. We all need somebody to talk to understand that.
Now you're a new head coach. We all need somebody
to talk to. You. Make sure you call me if
things aren't going good. And they're not gonna go very good,
because you don't have a very good football team. I said, well,
I'm gonna show you. You know, I got that fifth game.
(12:05):
I didn't call anybody. Man. I was like hiding under
the desk. And he calls me and he goes, hey, listen,
you s o B. You think you're John Wayne, don't you.
He says, I told you we all need somebody to
talk to now. He says, you're hiding right now. Aren't you.
I said, I'm absolutely high man. That door is closed locked,
and I'm I'm in my office and I don't want
(12:26):
to come out. And he says, hey, stand tall and
get going, you know. And so that's uh. You know
when you mentioned that we had Parcels Mike during that conversation,
of course Steve remembered Parcels was Mike during that conversation.
It was a preseason game in between the Jets and
the Eagles. Now, I gotta tell you, Steve had an
(12:47):
incredible memory for shots for wires. He was literally a
walking NFL films encyclopedia. And as we're about to hear,
Parcels did not exactly mince words talking about the Philly
fans in the NFL. No, I know I heard it
close second, Claus, I know you were. That's the truth.
(13:09):
I was there. You have any anybody to talk to,
just call me up. I just do it. We all
need that. You think I don't need somebody, and so, uh,
you know, he being of calling me and kinda get me,
get me out of my funk. When we come back,
Andy and Steve talk about that decision to trade Donovan
(13:31):
McNab and an indelible story about Read and the Philly Faithful.
And remember that word indelible, because it's going to have
a literal meaning. Welcome back to Tales from the Vault,
So full disclosure. I grew up in Philadelphia and I
sat in the stands at the vet and the link
(13:51):
and I heard the boo birds and no, I'll never
admit if I was one of them. But look, the
fans are tough but knowledgeable, and Andy Reid had to
love hate relationship with them. But the story you're about
to hear gives you some insight into just how much
Read appreciated the passion of the Philly faithful. You mentioned
(14:11):
the fans here, which are which is an interesting thing?
And what's what's one of the strangest requests that you
can think of a of a fan with an autograph
or a favor or something to ask you. Can you
think of one thing that really stands out is that? Well,
I mean I can think of one. A couple of
years ago and my radio show, UM I had a
(14:33):
gal come in. She had a tank top on, and
you know, she removed the tank top and wanted me
to sign. I just said, listen, I'm I can't you know,
I obviously can't you, and you put that back on please,
And really before before I could even get the whole
sentence out, butch Bushy Entico, my chief of security, was
right there, Hey, get over here. What are you doing?
You know, coach can't do that, you know, one of
those deals. So that's probably the most bizarre of the autograph.
(14:57):
Wasn't there a guy that asked you to sign his back?
And well, no, he did. Yeah, there was a guy
that came in and he's husky guy, nice, big brought back,
and he goes, hey, coach, can you sign my back?
So I go, um, no problem. He takes his shirt off.
(15:17):
He wanted you to sign his his back, his back.
So he takes his shirt off, and here here's Lincoln
Financial Field, Donovan McNabb throwing the ball, and then he
has you know, he has myself there, I believe, and
a couple of the other players Dawkins and and so
on tattooed on his back, all tattooed on his back,
(15:39):
and he goes, you sign here right here, And uh,
what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take this. So
I took a sharp I signed it because I'm gonna
take this now. I'm going down to that tattoo shop
and I'm a tattoo your name on my back, autographed
on my back. I'm going You know what, you are
a one loyal son of a gun right there? Now, dude,
(15:59):
Now you mentioned Donovan, and it's interesting to me that
there's there's qualities in other businesses that are valued, like loyalty, fidelity, constancy,
but yet in your business, now, those qualities that in
other businesses are cherished might impede the growth or the
(16:20):
or your progress. Is that a tough thing to to
deal with in that situation where and I guess maybe
that comes back to to someone like Donovan, who you were,
you were tethered to for so long, who's so loyal
and everything, and then there comes a time where, yeah,
I think it's like any other business, there's a money
factor that comes in in this profession. More so than
(16:42):
being a lawyer a doctor. There's an age factor that
comes in where a doctor at or a lawyer at
sixty five said, listen, it's time to go. As a
football player, you reach a certain age and now you've
got to go, even though your mind sharp and your
body still might have a couple to three years left
in it. That's something that constitutes change, In particular in
(17:02):
our situation here where we had three quarterbacks and a
young kid that we had drafted, UH that all had
one year left on their contract. So now something's got
to go. And and UH, as strong as my relationship
is with Donovan is, and as good a friends as
we are, we both understand that all of us are
(17:24):
just kind of rent in space in the National Football League.
So I know my time's gonna come. Donovan knew his
time was going to come, and we take that understanding.
We don't let that affect our our friendship or relationship.
We just kind of understand how that thing works. Do
you remember what your conversation with with Donovan? That must
have been a really really tough that you know that
(17:47):
did you both know, well, this time has come and
when you sat down to just say, Donovan, we're going
to trade you? What? What was that? What was that light? Though?
It must have been a great different. Well, you know,
we met after the season and we knew, really we
knew the season before. Um that when it when you're
you're going in your last year your deal, that's that's
(18:07):
gonna be a rocky road. And so there are no
guarantees and the national football and you get to that
last year, man, it's a um or you have one
year left. There's just not a lot of job security there.
So he knew that coming into the last year, and uh,
and so he put it out of the back of
his mind. I put out of the back of my mind.
(18:29):
We went into business and had a successful season. Um.
At the end of the season, we both kind of
knew that the next few months we're gonna be up
and down, that there could be some change, maybe maybe him,
maybe one of the other guys. But you know, it
wasn't just like the other years where he's here. That's
(18:49):
not what it was. We talked as the process went on.
It didn't end as a bad divorce. That's not what
it is. I mean, we still talk and can indicate
and UM, so I it's not. Uh, it's not where
I hate Donovan, Donovan hates me. We're still good friends.
So uh. But most of all, I, you know, I've
(19:13):
got to look at what happens with the Philadelphia Eagles
and what we can if I've got to get you know,
get rid of Donovan. Here which you know this is
a joint effort. This isn't the front office telling me
this is my final decision. Uh, that was it. If
nobody else has said that was my my decision. But
if we're gonna do that, I want to make sure
(19:34):
we're compensated the proper way. And that was the best compensation.
When you're you're talking about your players and how long
you've been with the team. Uh. When Lombardi retired, I
did an interview with him, and UH I asked him about,
you know, why he was going to retire and if
he was if he was sorry. He says no. He says,
(19:55):
I I still want to coach, but I've been with
this team so long. I can't motivate these players anymore.
They've heard everything I had to say. I still want
to coach, but I can't coach these players anymore. Do
you get to the point where you've been here a
long time? Do you worry about the players tuning you
out at this point that that Jesus, we've heard this
(20:17):
from coach read before, we've seen this. It is there
a concern that you could go stale? Well, there are
a couple of different different things that are now that
weren't then. Uh. With coach Lombardi. The difference today, I
think is there's so much change in the National Football
League's like college is four year program. Boom, guys are gone,
or they reached thirty, boom, they're gone. You look at
(20:38):
his teams, they were older teams and were mature, stayed together.
They all stay together. So we we've got this constant change.
And UH. I have a little saying, and I say
it to the coaches and the players that I bring
a three by five card into every meeting. If I
can't get it on that three by five card, you're
not hearing it. So my team meetings are like that.
(20:59):
I don't spend a lot of time because those players
they don't want to hear at all. They're gonna turn
you off. The attention span of the National Football League
football players fifteen minutes. So you can be the greatest
lecturer in the world. You can have the longest meetings
of the world. They are turning it off and they're
onto something else. What they want to do is play football.
They want you to give them the information, let them
(21:20):
have coaching points that make them the greatest possible player
that they can be. And then go play the game.
And so that's what I do. Are you aware of
this new brain science called neuroplastics If you heard anything
about this, I've heard it. I haven't studied all right.
That term refers to the brains recently discovered ability to
(21:43):
change its structure and its function. Now I gotta jump
in here and pull back the curtain on just how
brilliant and interviewer Steve was. Only Steve Sable could ask
a question about neuroplastics. Something is are field from football
as you can get and yet still bring it back
(22:03):
to football. This is quintessential Steve Sable. Now, meanwhile, back
to the question about neuroplastics. Now, how would you want
to alder a football player's brain if you if this
neuroplastics is true, to make him a better player. I
don't want him to all to love football, Number one.
(22:24):
If they all love to play the game and there's
no other ulterior motives there. I love to play the game,
and they're gonna do whatever you tell them to do,
and they're gonna work as hard as they can work
for as many years as they can work, and the
rest takes care of it. So have you actually coached
players that don't love the game. To me, this game
(22:45):
is so tough and so demanding. How in the hell
can I guy I play it and not love it.
I That's what I do. I tell there are certain
guys that love to play the game, certain guys that
kind of like to play the game, certain guys that
love to play the game. Those are guys I want,
and I tell our scouts at when people say, listen,
you went to championship games with Todd Pinkston and James
(23:05):
Thrash and and okay, maybe they weren't the best wide receiver,
and that those guys love to play the game. Is
that what attracted you to TEO when you talk about people,
A player that loves to play the game, loves play game,
He keeps the nose clean off of the field, and
he loves to play the game. Now, were there other
things there? There's some other things there, but we dealt
(23:26):
with those as they came. And then listen, every place
isn't for everybody. So we reached a point where, uh,
our place wasn't the right place, but there could be
another place for him. If you had a spy that
you could put into your upcoming opponents facility, and you
could ask him any question about the upcoming game and
(23:48):
he would give you the answer. What would be the
questions that you would ask him, things that you would
want to know about your upcoming opponent. I mean, and
this this is a spy that you've you've got and
he's gonna be able to answer anything you want. There's
gotta be one or two. Really, I would like to
know who's got the big heart. Some guys for a
(24:08):
few plays in a game, they're tough, but if you
keep pounding them, they're gonna quit. And I want to
know those guys. I want to know the weakness because
this is all about matchup strengths and weaknesses. You give
me the you give me some of those weaknesses, and
I'll exploit them. Every coach seems to have his own
a slogan or a catchphrase that he calls on to
(24:30):
inspire himself and maybe inspire his team. What's yours? Dominate?
I don't have a lot of a lot of that stuff,
but I want to dominate. I want to dominate. I
want my staff to dominate. I want my players to dominate.
I want to dominate. Another thing that I've heard coaches
(24:52):
say and this this comes from from Bill Walsh who
said that that in order to be success as a
head coach, you have to have an understanding of your
own shortcomings, your own failings, and so that's important for
you to be successful. Do you agree with that? Yeah,
I think you do. And then I think you need
(25:13):
to surround yourself. This is how we've we've kind of
based our our philosophy with the Eagles is you have
strengths and you have weaknesses. I have strengths and I
have weaknesses. So as opposed to me hammering you on
your weaknesses, I'm gonna take my strength and let them
cover up your weaknesses. I want your strength to cover
(25:34):
up my weaknesses. And then we are rolling. We're gonna
go kick your tail. We're not gonna hammer anybody's weakness.
That's not what we're gonna do. And then we expect you,
as a good person to work on those weaknesses and
try to turn them into a strength so that we
live off of that. So with shortcomings, I'm gonna surround
(25:55):
myself with people. I know my shortcomings, I what are they? Well,
I can't tell you that I know my weaknesses, and
so I'm when I go out and I'm hiring. I'm
going to try to hire people that I know are
potentially better than me and that can also cover up
those weaknesses are going to cover up. I'm going to
(26:17):
hang on this weakness. Eating is one of them. Well,
that's an easy answer, though. You want Now, there's got
to be something you can that that that you can
tell me when you're talking about about a weakness. Um,
you want me to make a suggestion here. People have
said that, and this is a military saying that no
(26:41):
plan survives first attack by the by the enemy. And
people have said Andy is very set in his play
calling and he'll stay with that game plan no matter what.
Would you agree, Well, I think the game is full
of adjustments. So you come in with a game plan,
but it's a chess match that other team. There has
(27:03):
to be flexibility within the game plan because that other
team is going to be doing things that you didn't
quite suspect. They're gonna have five things out of twenty
that they're gonna show you that are new, and if
those five things work, they're going to those five things
and if you can't make the adjustment, you're gonna get
you to tai. Okay, so you have to have flexibility
within the game plan. So I wouldn't say that's true.
You feel you do have flexibility with them. We do
(27:25):
have flexibility. Yeah, I keep flexible people around me. Is
that what you're looking at the All right, I'm gonna
go at this a different way. There's another here's the quote. Um,
there is a foolish corner in the brain of the
wisest man. Can you think back now in your career,
(27:45):
maybe in your biggest blunder, the biggest blunder. Um, maybe
it was a question of personnel or a play call
or something. But as deep tail oriented, if you are there,
I can give you a few personnel ones. I mean
they're they're you know, you're you're going into this saying
(28:06):
shooting so I get sold on somebody, And um, you
know we mentioned we mentioned t O that was a
great idea that it ended up failing in the long haul,
but it got you to the Super Bowls, right, Yeah,
they so those kind of things. This is this is
where I don't get into these quotes. Is um Number one,
(28:30):
I've got a short memory, which I think is very
important in the National Football League. The second thing is
I hammer myself and learn from my mistakes. I'm good
at that. I make mistakes like everybody else, but I'm
gonna try to find that mistake and I'm a hammered
out where that didn't happen again, and then I don't
make that mistake any When that mistake is me, why
do it? Yeah, I do it at every press conference.
(28:50):
We'll get to that, so I um, I don't. I
don't hide that. We're not perfect. I understand that. But
if I make a mistake, I'm an go back and
I'm not gonna let that mistake die. I'm going to
make sure that I hammered out and get it right,
try to better the wrong, and then I can forget
about it. And you've got to in this league, you
(29:12):
have to have a short memory. If you don't, you're
gonna be in the nuthouse. You're gonna drive yourself crazy.
So there isn't one mistake that you can think of
right now, because you've just flushed it out of your
system altogether. I've tried to flush it out. Yeah, I
don't like bringing those back up when we come back.
Steve and Andy talked about another controversial decision, bringing Michael
(29:34):
Vick to the Eagles and how the events and reads
personal life played a key role in that Welcome back
to Tales from the Vault. When the Eagles signed Michael
Vick in the summer of two thousand nine, it was
big news. No one knew if the former Pro Bowl
quarterback would play in the NFL again after serving twenty
one months in a federal prison for his role in
(29:55):
a dog fighting ring. But in order to understand Reads
decision and the personal and painful nature of it, I
need to give you a timeline of events that led
up to the Vic signing in two thousand seven. At
the same time Vic was serving his time in prison,
two of Andy's sons, Garrett and Britt, were also serving
(30:16):
time in jail for a variety of drug and gun
related offenses. The idea of being in prison and then
coming out and being given a second chance that was
really fresh and real for Andy Reid. So when Vic
was released in May of two thousand nine, Read convinced
owner Jeffrey Lury to give the quarterback a second chance.
(30:36):
All right, Um, I wanted to after t o then
with all the good and the bad that happened, then
you want with with Michael Vick What was your thinking
with that, with bringing Michael vacin. Well, there's why. There's
what I thought with Michael. I I knew Michael was
a good person in a bad situation. At heart, he's
(30:58):
a good person, and I think that's important. I I
brought him in because he's a good football player. But
there there were some underlying things to this. I I
thought that that with Michael's situation, he was going through
the same situation my boys were going through at the
same time. He kind of got out at the same
(31:19):
time as my oldest son got out and my second
son was now out, and I was able to kind
of quiz him on things on UH. And then I
had spent every quiz my second son on I could
see him going through the process that he was going through,
and then I could ask him questions on what I
(31:40):
thought Michael might be going through. So UH, and I
sat every Thursday at the different jails that are prisons
that the boys were at, so I had a feel.
You could sit there and you can sense things. And
the thing that I got out of that was it
these guys that are in Carceorray, they go kind of
(32:00):
through three phases. The first phases I didn't do anything.
It's not my fault. The second phase they hit is, man,
I screwed up. I did do this. I goofed The
third phases, I goofed up and this ain't never never
happening again. Now, not all of them reached that phase.
(32:20):
And you can sit there in a prison and you
can kinda see, and I talked to enough of the
guys you can see the ones that you go, this
guy might end up coming back here to prison to prison,
he might end up coming back. And then there are
other ones you go, you know what, that guy is
gonna get out and he's gonna smoke it here. Man,
he is, he's gonna make it. So uh with that,
(32:46):
I looked at Michael. The other thing that when they
come out. I noticed this with my my boys is
they have to build like a resume. So when they
come out of prison as much as they want to
make it. And you know, I thought, my boys that
kind of reach at that third phase, and uh, they
wanted to do right, They wanted to right the wrong.
They were in the public eye. It was a tough situation.
(33:10):
Um when they left the prison, they were nervous wrecks.
They were scared to death. It was like deer in
the headlights look when they stepped out, because all of
a sudden, we're back in the real world, and how
are you going to accept me? And I remember my
second son going for his uh uh job interview and
(33:34):
his first job interview, and he was like sweating, just profusely,
just just from anxiety the nerves of how that person is,
how is this person going to hire book? And then
the person did they end up hiring him? He got
the job with with a great, great family um up
at Carlino's. Uh oh yeah, oh yeah for dad. There
(33:56):
were some multi motives because that that place there, Now
want a good lasagna right there, baby, So so he went.
So what they end up doing is they have to
build this resume. And you see this like uh the
sheepish just uh, very unsure, insecure person um that wants
(34:18):
to do right. You see him kind of grow if
they get around the right people, they kind of grow
into normal life. So but they have to build that resume.
So it's no different with Michael. Michael goes in, he's in,
he's in the public eye. He comes out, he's scared
to death, man, I mean he's scared to when he's
(34:40):
scared to death. And I had talked to the commissioner.
I had talked to Tony. He was scared to death. Now,
when Michael got out, that a lot of head coaches
were going to run to their owners and go listen.
You know, I want this guy. He's pretty good player.
And I think that's what happened. I think and maybe
even before he got out, they had a little bit
of a plan and these owners are gonna the owners
(35:00):
are gonna go listen. Now, this is a pretty serious deal.
I mean, this guy, this was this was not a
good deal that he that he went through and um
and then back the coach off and then basically say no,
I think that took place. I kind of let it go.
I let him. I let him build his own resume.
So he went through the process of jobs. He went
(35:22):
through the public part of it of going out and
given back to the community, giving talks to schools, and
you know, joining the different organizations, going hand in hand
with these organizations for animal rights and and and speaking
about his faults. He admitted the wrong and um, and
it took time. So I waited till training camp before
(35:45):
I ever went to Jeff Lurry with with the thought
of Michael Vick. When I went to him, I at
least could go to him and say, listen, this is
what he's done. He's done this, this, this and this.
He's built this resume of trying to do the right thing.
Whether people are gonna accept him right, I can't. I
can't guarantee that, but he's he is bounded determined. He's
(36:07):
reached that third stage. He's bounded determined to do the
right thing. With the help of the Commissioner and Tony Dungee,
we were able to make this thing happen. But the
one that made it happen the most was Michael. And sometimes,
as you know, I'm not sure that gets enough of
enough credit for what he's done over this year, both
physically and mentally. And and he's on the he he understands,
(36:30):
he completely understands his situation. You were a journalist and
major in college, right so, uh would you be concerned
that if that was your profession right now, that you
were a writer, a sportswriter, and your assignment was to
cover an Andy Reid press conference and to get some good,
(36:51):
juicy bites and some really insightful information how would you
feel about that assignment? I feel like I was probably
on a ployed Um, you hear this Andy Reid, the funny, introspective,
self deprecating Andy Reid. You rarely get to see that
side of him now. I've been lucky to experience that
(37:14):
in production meetings, but those are private. For Steve to
get Andy to open up like this in public, well,
compare that to the Andy Reid you here in press
conferences were boring. Might be a compliment, but make no mistake,
he's intentionally boring. So let's not confuse the person with
this very deliberate persona that read likes to portray to
(37:34):
the media. Now, listen, this is how I look at
those press conferences. I look at them, uh like, the
media and the fans really don't want a comedian. Listen,
I can cut it with the best of them. But
the but the fans and mean, they really don't want
a comedian really to run their football team. They like
(37:55):
it for the immediate, but what they really want is
a satisfaction of winning football games. I think the media
and the fans want that, the satisfaction of winning games
and then inevitably getting the Super Bowl ring. So with that.
I when I come to a press conference, I come
there in a business frame of mine. I'm not gonna
joke around. I'm gonna give you uh something. I'm always
(38:18):
gonna tell the truth. I'm not gonna to the best
that I know of it. I'm not gonna fabricate on
it and uh um and give it to you and
then you gotta go from there. So I'm gonna test
your creativity as a writer. So I would have tested
my creativity, and I thought it was pretty creative. And
it was this teamage to improve on thirty short situations.
(38:41):
We need to compare them. Yeah, listen, there's some good
things and there's some bad things. So I'm not it's
it was a team effort, you know. I don't know
Dallas came is the Dallas came. I think there's There
was a contest about one of your press conferences how
many times you were going to cough? There was actually
a bet. There was a whole thing was how many
(39:02):
how many different Yeah, yeah, that's a nervous call. That's
an end season cough. I call it. We'll get fixed.
That's that's the release of pressure. See Berry says, you
know a lot of people in high profile jobs, they
maintain this pressure. If they would get one of those coughs,
they get rid of all the pressure where you could
let it out the other end too. But you can
(39:25):
do that, though this one doesn't smell it. What do
you think the public sense of Andy Reid is? And
because most of it is through this press, come not
what you and I are doing, because people don't know.
You said, wait a second, this guy is funny, he's
witty's compelling. It's a lot. But if you just want
by those press conferences the same, wait a second, that's
(39:47):
not That's not the guy I know. And I bet
you have friends they're saying, Hey, you say you don't
want to be a comedian, but you do have the
wit to to to drop one or two of those
one liners. And you wonder why not do it? Well, listen,
you do too much of it, and then you're gonna
be criticized for that. The bottom line is give them
information and enough now. Listen, I'm trying to keep a
(40:10):
football team together. I've got sixty five guys and I'm
trying to keep together in a tight bond, and I'm
the leader of that. So they're going to kind of
follow my lead. Um, nobody wants to be criticized out
in public. I don't want to be criticized out in public.
Now it happens, but I surely don't want it from
(40:33):
one of my players, and I don't want it from
Jeff Lury or Joe. I don't want that. I don't
think I don't think anybody wants that. So I'm not
going to do that to the players. I'll take you.
If you're one of my guys, I'm gonna take you
one on one. I'm gonna bring you in the office.
I'm not gonna do it on the field. I'm not
gonna put on a show. I'm gonna take you and
i'm gonna sit you down the chair, and if I've
got an issue with you, we're gonna knock that issue out.
(40:56):
I'm gonna be as straightforward with you as I can.
It might not be what you want to hear or
but I'm gonna shoot you straight. And so you have
to You've got to develop that with the player. If
you want the player to follow you into the the
battle of football, into that game, there's gonna be a
time in a game where that player has got the
(41:16):
ultimate trust in you and and you have to have
the ultimate trust in him. And if you've destroyed that
trust out in public, you can never regain that. Is
this something that you've developed yourself or did you did
you see another coach do do this? What you're talking
about this? I think it's an offensive lineman's mentality. That's
what I really think it is. When you're raised as
(41:38):
an offensive lineman or a defensive lineman, you kind of
understand that that, um, you take care of each other.
You gotta work together, you all gotta dance to dance together.
You gotta trust the guy next year. If you don't,
you're not gonna be any good. Now you're aware that
they're coaches that do the exact opposite that you do.
And example, here we have Jimmy Johnson, who we always
(41:58):
felt used the press conference in the media as a
tool to send the message to its players. You're exactly
the opposite. It's almost with whatever happens, you know, and
he's gonna say it, Uh, we'll get it fixed. It's
my fault. We'll get it fixed. It's my faulty. Well,
I think it's Do you sense any of the fans
frustration with that? When they when they know, damn it, it
(42:20):
it isn't the coach's fault. I mean, and and but
you'll never admit you'll never blame a player. Well, listen,
even when this is where it's my fault, it's my
fault as a leader. So could I have gone back
and help that player more not to make that mistake
as a football coach at your challenge, We're here to
be teachers. That's why we're that's why we're in this profession.
(42:42):
And so did I teach that guy well enough not
to make that mistake? Now? Is there a human error
in the game. Absolutely, that's what makes it so great.
So Um, but but I'll take that. I'll take that
responsibility for what I get down the road. I'll take
that responsibility. Um. What's the nicest thing that anybody ever
(43:03):
said to you? My wife when she tells me she
loves me. It's pretty good. That is. Listen, that's a
good way to end it right there. Tammy and Andy
have experienced such tremendous personal hardship, and getting read to
open up about that is truly one of Steve's gifts
that was on full display here. Meanwhile, two years after
(43:27):
this interview, read the coach. Well he traded Philly cheese
steaks for Kansas City barbecue. Come on, you knew I
had to get in a line about food here. This
is Andy Reid Well. Read is now finally a Super
Bowl champion and incredibly in his ninth season as coach
of the Chiefs. Now Over his career, Read his coached
(43:48):
or developed so many great players. And you can't ask
someone to pick a favorite. It's sort of like asking
which of your five children do you like the best.
But if you really put Read under the microscope, he
tell you his face, Avread is bread Farve. And that's
who's coming up next week. Thanks for coming with me
on this maiden trip inside the NFL Films Vault. Hope
(44:09):
you'll join us again next week. I'm Andrea Kramer.
I'm Pro Football Hall of Fame journalist Andrea Kramer, and
welcome to NFL Films Tales from the Vault. In this
weekly podcast, you'll get to hear for the first time
raw unedited conversations between Steve Sable and some of the
greatest figures to play and coach pro football. Now. When
I started my career as NFL films first female producer,
(00:27):
Steve was my boss and mentor, and I learned the
art of interviewing from him. Over his five decades at
NFL Films, the men who made the game, as Steve
liked to call them, sat down with him because of
the trust and respect they had for Steve, and as
you'll hear, he would ask them anything. So think of
(00:48):
the show as a time capsule taking you to a
specific period in a player or coaches career. It's time
to go inside the Vault of NFL Films. And in
case you're wondering, it's not an exact adderation. It's literally
a fireproof fault with over fifty thousand cans of film.
That's three hundred and thirty three thousand football fields worth
(01:10):
of film. For those of you scoring at home, our
weekly journey through NFL History kicks off with head coach
Andy Reid. When Steve visited Andy Reid in in his
(01:34):
suburban Philadelphia home where he lived with his wife, Tammy
and their five kids, and he wasn't yet a Super
Bowl champion, and Patrick Mahomes he was a freshman in
high school when this interview was recorded. Reid had just
completed his eleventh season in Philadelphia and was the most
successful coach the Eagles ever had, But Reid was approaching
(01:54):
across roads in his career. He was just two months
removed from trading the winning his quarterback in franchise history,
Donovan McNabb to Washington. Andy shares with Steve what went
into that decision, as well as how struggles in his
personal life affected and guided some of his decisions as
a coach. What you're here today is not Andy Reid's
(02:17):
Super Bowl winning guru, but Andy Reid, aged fifty two,
a man who had found himself but hadn't yet found
a championship. So remember that great sportscaster Warner Wolf. He
used to say, let's go to the videotape. Well, I
say let's go to the vault. Here's Steve Sable and
Andy Reid real. They got like twenty questions that a
(02:41):
lot of it's just going to be I'm just talk
to you about coaching, and um, there's a couple of
quotes that I have from other coaches that I just
wanted you to react to. You know, we all said,
all right, you know, when I'm walking around this house,
there's so many you know, Chaka's trinkets and stuff. You're what,
what's your most prize possession in this whole house. I know,
(03:05):
you know Bill Parcel has always had that the elephants
and stuff. But I'm looking with all the quilts and
is this all Tammy? This is I'm just wrinten here.
So I've got a little cubby hole over in the
corner here office and uh yeah, I've got a little
baseball collection that I kind of cherish, and you know,
(03:26):
but there's, um, most of my things are actually at
the office and so yeah, but that baseball collection and
then some of the awards are are great, and h
the thing you probably cherished most of your family, So
I cherished people that are in the house as opposed
to all the little trinkets in the house. But you know,
there's some neat things I've got a couple of paintings
of my father painted that are close to my heart.
(03:47):
So your dad was an artist, right that. Yeah, my
dad was an artist, and uh, and I was able
to you know, artists are, they're a little you know this,
artists are, they're out of the box thinker man. And
so uh with that, he had a big heart and
he would paint something up and he would give it
away or he'd sell it. And but I was able
(04:09):
to My brother and I were able to sneak a
couple of things from him, and uh, you know it's
they're great, great things to have in the house and
and to pass down, you know, through the through the
years to the family. A long time ago, we did
an interview with Bear Bryant when I was in the
locker room with him and he had a shirt on
and he had a hole in the shirt. And you know,
(04:29):
I said, Coach Briant, I actually I didn't have to
ask him, but I said, you had a you think
you could universal Alabama could do a little better than that.
And he said no. He says, I put that whole
in my shirt purposely because it reminds me of where
I've come from. Is there anything like that that that
that you've got maybe in your office or here, that
(04:49):
that that is a reminder of how far that you've come. Well,
I've got everything from high school, my my wife, I
get my mom kept it and then my wife took
it after my mom passed away. And and so you
know we've got a little that of the high school
stuff and the junior high school things, and and that
was that was a great upbringing. Where I grew up
in Los Angeles so well it was. Uh, I grew
(05:12):
up in a multi racial area and so right below
Dodger Stadium, I got to be around all different kinds
of people, saw the good and everybody um and and
I understood that whether it didn't matter the religion, the
faith that creed, it didn't matter. These were good people
and we all joined together. And then I ended up
going to bring him Young University. And if I had
(05:33):
to do it all over again, I go to bring
him Young University. Uh. It was life changing experience. My
my playing career was I got the opportunity I got
was I had a chance to play every position. I
was like the John Havelchek of the offensive line. I
got to play every position. And uh, um, I loved
every minute of it. I played for two seasons. Did
(05:56):
you realize at that point that you wanted to be
a coach or did you think that maybe you could
play in the NFL? Actually I was kind of heading
towards My mother was a doctor, and so I was.
I was thinking about going into medical school. So I
had set everything up where I could do that. And uh,
Lavell Edwards was my head football coach and during my
senior year, he said, have you ever thought about going
(06:17):
into coaching? And I said, well, I really, you know,
I hadn't thought about that. He goes, you know, I
think you would be pretty good at that. You might
want to look at it. I remember calling my parents
were going, hey, you know what, Um, I might switch
my major heir and going to going to coaching, And
I remember I remember my mom going. My mom and
(06:38):
dad were both on the phone, and my my dad
he was he was cool with him. My my mom goes, well,
you know, it's not like jail. You can always get
out now. Bill Parcels he was telling me, he said,
talking about head coaching, he said, nine of your time
is spent being disappointed and not meeting your expectations. Is
(06:59):
that just him or or could you say that about
all all coaches? I mean, that's a pretty bleak assessment
of your profession if you're saying ninety percent of the
time you're going to be disappointed. Yeah, you know, I
don't think of it that way. Now you're talking about
one of the all time great coaches and a very
good friend of mine. So I the way I look
at is I kind of take the other approach maybe,
(07:20):
and I say, I'm one of the luckiest guys in
the world to be doing what I'm doing. I mean,
I'm one of thirty two people in the whole world
that gets coaching the National Football League. And that's why
I wake up, man, I wake up and I'm fired up.
Every day is a new day. And uh, through thick
and thin, and we've had our trials and tribulations on
the field and off the field as a family as
(07:41):
a team, and I just you keep working through it
and listen, there are highs and lows and every everybody's life, um,
and you kind of keep your faith and you keep
pushing and normally good things happen. So that's that's kind
of the approach I've taken. I've taken that with my players,
with the coaches, and with my family now more. You
just talked about highs and lows, and I was just
(08:03):
looking at your record five NFC championship games, and only
Bill Belichick has a better winning percentage than you do.
Only Jeff Fisher has longer tenure than And we're talking
about highs and lows. If I wanted to take one
play or one game from your career here with the
Eagles and put it in a time capsule in a
(08:26):
hundred years from now, somebody wanted to know something about
Andy Reid as a coach, what would you want them
to see in that in that time capsule. I'd probably
take that second season when you go from five and
eleven to eleven and five, and the way the players
and coaches didn't give up hope after that first year.
We had a lot of veteran players and I team
very easily. They could have gone, you know what, this
(08:47):
young guy right here, this young Choby ridhead, he's out
of his mind. But they didn't. They all rallied in.
They bought in the Troy Eventsuce. All these guys bought in.
They bought in the Donovan they bought into Andy and
and uh, you know went on to change that thing around.
So that whole season I think was a phenomenal just
a phenomenal thing, at least in my my heart it is.
(09:08):
And then the other one is an NFC championship game
that we won to put us in a super Bowl.
Standing in Lincoln Financial Field, it's cold. I've got like
a gatorade bath on me that's frozen. It's so cold
that the gatorade bath froze. I'm sitting there and the
fans they wouldn't leave, they were out of their mind.
And that that was a great that was a great feeling. Um,
(09:30):
let's switch it around to the other thing. That the
other the valley where a lot of coaches will say
that that you learn from defeat, that that what defeat
has had the most profound effect on you as a coach.
I think the ones that make you the strongest as
you're losing that NFC championship game, especially as many times
(09:52):
we have that, that's uh, that makes you strong. Now,
it also makes your drive even greater to get to
that that super Bowl and to win the super Bowl.
So uh, you probably put those games along with um,
you know that the loss in the Super Bowl, that
that drive you to that ultimate thing, which is winning
(10:15):
the Super Bowl. And I think as coaches in the
National Football League, and I would put this in the
hundred percent more, we are all striving to do that
with our football team. I think every player in the
National Football League is striving to go get that ring.
And uh, those games right there, those five games, those uh,
they they're the ones that probably have the most profound
(10:38):
impact on me as a coach. What are you what
are you afraid of as a coach? I mean there
must be some fear every week that that the same
thing that must come back or is it? Is it
different each week? You know? I remember my first year
and we weren't very good. I think we went either
four or five games of just getting our tail chick
(11:00):
for anything positive happened. And I remember sitting in my
office and I didn't want to come on. I didn't
want to see the coaches, I didn't want to see
the players, and I surely didn't want to drive home,
especially when those flyer games were let out next to
the vet and they would be saying, hey, you know,
you need to get your fat butt back to Green Bay,
you know, one of those deals literally and uh and
so uh. I was kind of hiding out and I
(11:22):
got a phone call from Parcels actually and he goes,
he had told me this when we played him in
the preseason. He said, listen, you are in the roughest
place in the National Football League. He says. The fans
are passionate, and the media they want to rip your
head off. And I've coached it both New York teams.
(11:44):
I've coached it New England. You're in a rough spot.
He says. We all need somebody to talk to understand that.
Now you're a new head coach. We all need somebody
to talk to. You. Make sure you call me if
things aren't going good. And they're not gonna go very good,
because you don't have a very good football team. I said, well,
I'm gonna show you. You know, I got that fifth game.
(12:05):
I didn't call anybody. Man. I was like hiding under
the desk. And he calls me and he goes, hey, listen,
you s o B. You think you're John Wayne, don't you.
He says, I told you we all need somebody to
talk to now. He says, you're hiding right now. Aren't you.
I said, I'm absolutely high man. That door is closed locked,
and I'm I'm in my office and I don't want
(12:26):
to come out. And he says, hey, stand tall and
get going, you know. And so that's uh. You know
when you mentioned that we had Parcels Mike during that conversation,
of course Steve remembered Parcels was Mike during that conversation.
It was a preseason game in between the Jets and
the Eagles. Now, I gotta tell you, Steve had an
(12:47):
incredible memory for shots for wires. He was literally a
walking NFL films encyclopedia. And as we're about to hear,
Parcels did not exactly mince words talking about the Philly
fans in the NFL. No, I know I heard it
close second, Claus, I know you were. That's the truth.
(13:09):
I was there. You have any anybody to talk to,
just call me up. I just do it. We all
need that. You think I don't need somebody, and so, uh,
you know, he being of calling me and kinda get me,
get me out of my funk. When we come back,
Andy and Steve talk about that decision to trade Donovan
(13:31):
McNab and an indelible story about Read and the Philly Faithful.
And remember that word indelible, because it's going to have
a literal meaning. Welcome back to Tales from the Vault,
So full disclosure. I grew up in Philadelphia and I
sat in the stands at the vet and the link
(13:51):
and I heard the boo birds and no, I'll never
admit if I was one of them. But look, the
fans are tough but knowledgeable, and Andy Reid had to
love hate relationship with them. But the story you're about
to hear gives you some insight into just how much
Read appreciated the passion of the Philly faithful. You mentioned
(14:11):
the fans here, which are which is an interesting thing?
And what's what's one of the strangest requests that you
can think of a of a fan with an autograph
or a favor or something to ask you. Can you
think of one thing that really stands out is that? Well,
I mean I can think of one. A couple of
years ago and my radio show, UM I had a
(14:33):
gal come in. She had a tank top on, and
you know, she removed the tank top and wanted me
to sign. I just said, listen, I'm I can't you know,
I obviously can't you, and you put that back on please,
And really before before I could even get the whole
sentence out, butch Bushy Entico, my chief of security, was
right there, Hey, get over here. What are you doing?
You know, coach can't do that, you know, one of
those deals. So that's probably the most bizarre of the autograph.
(14:57):
Wasn't there a guy that asked you to sign his back?
And well, no, he did. Yeah, there was a guy
that came in and he's husky guy, nice, big brought back,
and he goes, hey, coach, can you sign my back?
So I go, um, no problem. He takes his shirt off.
(15:17):
He wanted you to sign his his back, his back.
So he takes his shirt off, and here here's Lincoln
Financial Field, Donovan McNabb throwing the ball, and then he
has you know, he has myself there, I believe, and
a couple of the other players Dawkins and and so
on tattooed on his back, all tattooed on his back,
(15:39):
and he goes, you sign here right here, And uh,
what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take this. So
I took a sharp I signed it because I'm gonna
take this now. I'm going down to that tattoo shop
and I'm a tattoo your name on my back, autographed
on my back. I'm going You know what, you are
a one loyal son of a gun right there? Now, dude,
(15:59):
Now you mentioned Donovan, and it's interesting to me that
there's there's qualities in other businesses that are valued, like loyalty, fidelity, constancy,
but yet in your business, now, those qualities that in
other businesses are cherished might impede the growth or the
(16:20):
or your progress. Is that a tough thing to to
deal with in that situation where and I guess maybe
that comes back to to someone like Donovan, who you were,
you were tethered to for so long, who's so loyal
and everything, and then there comes a time where, yeah,
I think it's like any other business, there's a money
factor that comes in in this profession. More so than
(16:42):
being a lawyer a doctor. There's an age factor that
comes in where a doctor at or a lawyer at
sixty five said, listen, it's time to go. As a
football player, you reach a certain age and now you've
got to go, even though your mind sharp and your
body still might have a couple to three years left
in it. That's something that constitutes change, In particular in
(17:02):
our situation here where we had three quarterbacks and a
young kid that we had drafted, UH that all had
one year left on their contract. So now something's got
to go. And and UH, as strong as my relationship
is with Donovan is, and as good a friends as
we are, we both understand that all of us are
(17:24):
just kind of rent in space in the National Football League.
So I know my time's gonna come. Donovan knew his
time was going to come, and we take that understanding.
We don't let that affect our our friendship or relationship.
We just kind of understand how that thing works. Do
you remember what your conversation with with Donovan? That must
have been a really really tough that you know that
(17:47):
did you both know, well, this time has come and
when you sat down to just say, Donovan, we're going
to trade you? What? What was that? What was that light? Though?
It must have been a great different. Well, you know,
we met after the season and we knew, really we
knew the season before. Um that when it when you're
you're going in your last year your deal, that's that's
(18:07):
gonna be a rocky road. And so there are no
guarantees and the national football and you get to that
last year, man, it's a um or you have one
year left. There's just not a lot of job security there.
So he knew that coming into the last year, and uh,
and so he put it out of the back of
his mind. I put out of the back of my mind.
(18:29):
We went into business and had a successful season. Um.
At the end of the season, we both kind of
knew that the next few months we're gonna be up
and down, that there could be some change, maybe maybe him,
maybe one of the other guys. But you know, it
wasn't just like the other years where he's here. That's
(18:49):
not what it was. We talked as the process went on.
It didn't end as a bad divorce. That's not what
it is. I mean, we still talk and can indicate
and UM, so I it's not. Uh, it's not where
I hate Donovan, Donovan hates me. We're still good friends.
So uh. But most of all, I, you know, I've
(19:13):
got to look at what happens with the Philadelphia Eagles
and what we can if I've got to get you know,
get rid of Donovan. Here which you know this is
a joint effort. This isn't the front office telling me
this is my final decision. Uh, that was it. If
nobody else has said that was my my decision. But
if we're gonna do that, I want to make sure
(19:34):
we're compensated the proper way. And that was the best compensation.
When you're you're talking about your players and how long
you've been with the team. Uh. When Lombardi retired, I
did an interview with him, and UH I asked him about,
you know, why he was going to retire and if
he was if he was sorry. He says no. He says,
(19:55):
I I still want to coach, but I've been with
this team so long. I can't motivate these players anymore.
They've heard everything I had to say. I still want
to coach, but I can't coach these players anymore. Do
you get to the point where you've been here a
long time? Do you worry about the players tuning you
out at this point that that Jesus, we've heard this
(20:17):
from coach read before, we've seen this. It is there
a concern that you could go stale? Well, there are
a couple of different different things that are now that
weren't then. Uh. With coach Lombardi. The difference today, I
think is there's so much change in the National Football
League's like college is four year program. Boom, guys are gone,
or they reached thirty, boom, they're gone. You look at
(20:38):
his teams, they were older teams and were mature, stayed together.
They all stay together. So we we've got this constant change.
And UH. I have a little saying, and I say
it to the coaches and the players that I bring
a three by five card into every meeting. If I
can't get it on that three by five card, you're
not hearing it. So my team meetings are like that.
(20:59):
I don't spend a lot of time because those players
they don't want to hear at all. They're gonna turn
you off. The attention span of the National Football League
football players fifteen minutes. So you can be the greatest
lecturer in the world. You can have the longest meetings
of the world. They are turning it off and they're
onto something else. What they want to do is play football.
They want you to give them the information, let them
(21:20):
have coaching points that make them the greatest possible player
that they can be. And then go play the game.
And so that's what I do. Are you aware of
this new brain science called neuroplastics If you heard anything
about this, I've heard it. I haven't studied all right.
That term refers to the brains recently discovered ability to
(21:43):
change its structure and its function. Now I gotta jump
in here and pull back the curtain on just how
brilliant and interviewer Steve was. Only Steve Sable could ask
a question about neuroplastics. Something is are field from football
as you can get and yet still bring it back
(22:03):
to football. This is quintessential Steve Sable. Now, meanwhile, back
to the question about neuroplastics. Now, how would you want
to alder a football player's brain if you if this
neuroplastics is true, to make him a better player. I
don't want him to all to love football, Number one.
(22:24):
If they all love to play the game and there's
no other ulterior motives there. I love to play the game,
and they're gonna do whatever you tell them to do,
and they're gonna work as hard as they can work
for as many years as they can work, and the
rest takes care of it. So have you actually coached
players that don't love the game. To me, this game
(22:45):
is so tough and so demanding. How in the hell
can I guy I play it and not love it.
I That's what I do. I tell there are certain
guys that love to play the game, certain guys that
kind of like to play the game, certain guys that
love to play the game. Those are guys I want,
and I tell our scouts at when people say, listen,
you went to championship games with Todd Pinkston and James
(23:05):
Thrash and and okay, maybe they weren't the best wide receiver,
and that those guys love to play the game. Is
that what attracted you to TEO when you talk about people,
A player that loves to play the game, loves play game,
He keeps the nose clean off of the field, and
he loves to play the game. Now, were there other
things there? There's some other things there, but we dealt
(23:26):
with those as they came. And then listen, every place
isn't for everybody. So we reached a point where, uh,
our place wasn't the right place, but there could be
another place for him. If you had a spy that
you could put into your upcoming opponents facility, and you
could ask him any question about the upcoming game and
(23:48):
he would give you the answer. What would be the
questions that you would ask him, things that you would
want to know about your upcoming opponent. I mean, and
this this is a spy that you've you've got and
he's gonna be able to answer anything you want. There's
gotta be one or two. Really, I would like to
know who's got the big heart. Some guys for a
(24:08):
few plays in a game, they're tough, but if you
keep pounding them, they're gonna quit. And I want to
know those guys. I want to know the weakness because
this is all about matchup strengths and weaknesses. You give
me the you give me some of those weaknesses, and
I'll exploit them. Every coach seems to have his own
a slogan or a catchphrase that he calls on to
(24:30):
inspire himself and maybe inspire his team. What's yours? Dominate?
I don't have a lot of a lot of that stuff,
but I want to dominate. I want to dominate. I
want my staff to dominate. I want my players to dominate.
I want to dominate. Another thing that I've heard coaches
(24:52):
say and this this comes from from Bill Walsh who
said that that in order to be success as a
head coach, you have to have an understanding of your
own shortcomings, your own failings, and so that's important for
you to be successful. Do you agree with that? Yeah,
I think you do. And then I think you need
(25:13):
to surround yourself. This is how we've we've kind of
based our our philosophy with the Eagles is you have
strengths and you have weaknesses. I have strengths and I
have weaknesses. So as opposed to me hammering you on
your weaknesses, I'm gonna take my strength and let them
cover up your weaknesses. I want your strength to cover
(25:34):
up my weaknesses. And then we are rolling. We're gonna
go kick your tail. We're not gonna hammer anybody's weakness.
That's not what we're gonna do. And then we expect you,
as a good person to work on those weaknesses and
try to turn them into a strength so that we
live off of that. So with shortcomings, I'm gonna surround
(25:55):
myself with people. I know my shortcomings, I what are they? Well,
I can't tell you that I know my weaknesses, and
so I'm when I go out and I'm hiring. I'm
going to try to hire people that I know are
potentially better than me and that can also cover up
those weaknesses are going to cover up. I'm going to
(26:17):
hang on this weakness. Eating is one of them. Well,
that's an easy answer, though. You want Now, there's got
to be something you can that that that you can
tell me when you're talking about about a weakness. Um,
you want me to make a suggestion here. People have
said that, and this is a military saying that no
(26:41):
plan survives first attack by the by the enemy. And
people have said Andy is very set in his play
calling and he'll stay with that game plan no matter what.
Would you agree, Well, I think the game is full
of adjustments. So you come in with a game plan,
but it's a chess match that other team. There has
(27:03):
to be flexibility within the game plan because that other
team is going to be doing things that you didn't
quite suspect. They're gonna have five things out of twenty
that they're gonna show you that are new, and if
those five things work, they're going to those five things
and if you can't make the adjustment, you're gonna get
you to tai. Okay, so you have to have flexibility
within the game plan. So I wouldn't say that's true.
You feel you do have flexibility with them. We do
(27:25):
have flexibility. Yeah, I keep flexible people around me. Is
that what you're looking at the All right, I'm gonna
go at this a different way. There's another here's the quote. Um,
there is a foolish corner in the brain of the
wisest man. Can you think back now in your career,
(27:45):
maybe in your biggest blunder, the biggest blunder. Um, maybe
it was a question of personnel or a play call
or something. But as deep tail oriented, if you are there,
I can give you a few personnel ones. I mean
they're they're you know, you're you're going into this saying
(28:06):
shooting so I get sold on somebody, And um, you
know we mentioned we mentioned t O that was a
great idea that it ended up failing in the long haul,
but it got you to the Super Bowls, right, Yeah,
they so those kind of things. This is this is
where I don't get into these quotes. Is um Number one,
(28:30):
I've got a short memory, which I think is very
important in the National Football League. The second thing is
I hammer myself and learn from my mistakes. I'm good
at that. I make mistakes like everybody else, but I'm
gonna try to find that mistake and I'm a hammered
out where that didn't happen again, and then I don't
make that mistake any When that mistake is me, why
do it? Yeah, I do it at every press conference.
(28:50):
We'll get to that, so I um, I don't. I
don't hide that. We're not perfect. I understand that. But
if I make a mistake, I'm an go back and
I'm not gonna let that mistake die. I'm going to
make sure that I hammered out and get it right,
try to better the wrong, and then I can forget
about it. And you've got to in this league, you
(29:12):
have to have a short memory. If you don't, you're
gonna be in the nuthouse. You're gonna drive yourself crazy.
So there isn't one mistake that you can think of
right now, because you've just flushed it out of your
system altogether. I've tried to flush it out. Yeah, I
don't like bringing those back up when we come back.
Steve and Andy talked about another controversial decision, bringing Michael
(29:34):
Vick to the Eagles and how the events and reads
personal life played a key role in that Welcome back
to Tales from the Vault. When the Eagles signed Michael
Vick in the summer of two thousand nine, it was
big news. No one knew if the former Pro Bowl
quarterback would play in the NFL again after serving twenty
one months in a federal prison for his role in
(29:55):
a dog fighting ring. But in order to understand Reads
decision and the personal and painful nature of it, I
need to give you a timeline of events that led
up to the Vic signing in two thousand seven. At
the same time Vic was serving his time in prison,
two of Andy's sons, Garrett and Britt, were also serving
(30:16):
time in jail for a variety of drug and gun
related offenses. The idea of being in prison and then
coming out and being given a second chance that was
really fresh and real for Andy Reid. So when Vic
was released in May of two thousand nine, Read convinced
owner Jeffrey Lury to give the quarterback a second chance.
(30:36):
All right, Um, I wanted to after t o then
with all the good and the bad that happened, then
you want with with Michael Vick What was your thinking
with that, with bringing Michael vacin. Well, there's why. There's
what I thought with Michael. I I knew Michael was
a good person in a bad situation. At heart, he's
(30:58):
a good person, and I think that's important. I I
brought him in because he's a good football player. But
there there were some underlying things to this. I I
thought that that with Michael's situation, he was going through
the same situation my boys were going through at the
same time. He kind of got out at the same
(31:19):
time as my oldest son got out and my second
son was now out, and I was able to kind
of quiz him on things on UH. And then I
had spent every quiz my second son on I could
see him going through the process that he was going through,
and then I could ask him questions on what I
(31:40):
thought Michael might be going through. So UH, and I
sat every Thursday at the different jails that are prisons
that the boys were at, so I had a feel.
You could sit there and you can sense things. And
the thing that I got out of that was it
these guys that are in Carceorray, they go kind of
(32:00):
through three phases. The first phases I didn't do anything.
It's not my fault. The second phase they hit is, man,
I screwed up. I did do this. I goofed The
third phases, I goofed up and this ain't never never
happening again. Now, not all of them reached that phase.
(32:20):
And you can sit there in a prison and you
can kinda see, and I talked to enough of the
guys you can see the ones that you go, this
guy might end up coming back here to prison to prison,
he might end up coming back. And then there are
other ones you go, you know what, that guy is
gonna get out and he's gonna smoke it here. Man,
he is, he's gonna make it. So uh with that,
(32:46):
I looked at Michael. The other thing that when they
come out. I noticed this with my my boys is
they have to build like a resume. So when they
come out of prison as much as they want to
make it. And you know, I thought, my boys that
kind of reach at that third phase, and uh, they
wanted to do right, They wanted to right the wrong.
They were in the public eye. It was a tough situation.
(33:10):
Um when they left the prison, they were nervous wrecks.
They were scared to death. It was like deer in
the headlights look when they stepped out, because all of
a sudden, we're back in the real world, and how
are you going to accept me? And I remember my
second son going for his uh uh job interview and
(33:34):
his first job interview, and he was like sweating, just profusely,
just just from anxiety the nerves of how that person is,
how is this person going to hire book? And then
the person did they end up hiring him? He got
the job with with a great, great family um up
at Carlino's. Uh oh yeah, oh yeah for dad. There
(33:56):
were some multi motives because that that place there, Now
want a good lasagna right there, baby, So so he went.
So what they end up doing is they have to
build this resume. And you see this like uh the
sheepish just uh, very unsure, insecure person um that wants
(34:18):
to do right. You see him kind of grow if
they get around the right people, they kind of grow
into normal life. So but they have to build that resume.
So it's no different with Michael. Michael goes in, he's in,
he's in the public eye. He comes out, he's scared
to death, man, I mean he's scared to when he's
(34:40):
scared to death. And I had talked to the commissioner.
I had talked to Tony. He was scared to death. Now,
when Michael got out, that a lot of head coaches
were going to run to their owners and go listen.
You know, I want this guy. He's pretty good player.
And I think that's what happened. I think and maybe
even before he got out, they had a little bit
of a plan and these owners are gonna the owners
(35:00):
are gonna go listen. Now, this is a pretty serious deal.
I mean, this guy, this was this was not a
good deal that he that he went through and um
and then back the coach off and then basically say no,
I think that took place. I kind of let it go.
I let him. I let him build his own resume.
So he went through the process of jobs. He went
(35:22):
through the public part of it of going out and
given back to the community, giving talks to schools, and
you know, joining the different organizations, going hand in hand
with these organizations for animal rights and and and speaking
about his faults. He admitted the wrong and um, and
it took time. So I waited till training camp before
(35:45):
I ever went to Jeff Lurry with with the thought
of Michael Vick. When I went to him, I at
least could go to him and say, listen, this is
what he's done. He's done this, this, this and this.
He's built this resume of trying to do the right thing.
Whether people are gonna accept him right, I can't. I
can't guarantee that, but he's he is bounded determined. He's
(36:07):
reached that third stage. He's bounded determined to do the
right thing. With the help of the Commissioner and Tony Dungee,
we were able to make this thing happen. But the
one that made it happen the most was Michael. And sometimes,
as you know, I'm not sure that gets enough of
enough credit for what he's done over this year, both
physically and mentally. And and he's on the he he understands,
(36:30):
he completely understands his situation. You were a journalist and
major in college, right so, uh would you be concerned
that if that was your profession right now, that you
were a writer, a sportswriter, and your assignment was to
cover an Andy Reid press conference and to get some good,
(36:51):
juicy bites and some really insightful information how would you
feel about that assignment? I feel like I was probably
on a ployed Um, you hear this Andy Reid, the funny, introspective,
self deprecating Andy Reid. You rarely get to see that
side of him now. I've been lucky to experience that
(37:14):
in production meetings, but those are private. For Steve to
get Andy to open up like this in public, well,
compare that to the Andy Reid you here in press
conferences were boring. Might be a compliment, but make no mistake,
he's intentionally boring. So let's not confuse the person with
this very deliberate persona that read likes to portray to
(37:34):
the media. Now, listen, this is how I look at
those press conferences. I look at them, uh like, the
media and the fans really don't want a comedian. Listen,
I can cut it with the best of them. But
the but the fans and mean, they really don't want
a comedian really to run their football team. They like
(37:55):
it for the immediate, but what they really want is
a satisfaction of winning football games. I think the media
and the fans want that, the satisfaction of winning games
and then inevitably getting the Super Bowl ring. So with that.
I when I come to a press conference, I come
there in a business frame of mine. I'm not gonna
joke around. I'm gonna give you uh something. I'm always
(38:18):
gonna tell the truth. I'm not gonna to the best
that I know of it. I'm not gonna fabricate on
it and uh um and give it to you and
then you gotta go from there. So I'm gonna test
your creativity as a writer. So I would have tested
my creativity, and I thought it was pretty creative. And
it was this teamage to improve on thirty short situations.
(38:41):
We need to compare them. Yeah, listen, there's some good
things and there's some bad things. So I'm not it's
it was a team effort, you know. I don't know
Dallas came is the Dallas came. I think there's There
was a contest about one of your press conferences how
many times you were going to cough? There was actually
a bet. There was a whole thing was how many
(39:02):
how many different Yeah, yeah, that's a nervous call. That's
an end season cough. I call it. We'll get fixed.
That's that's the release of pressure. See Berry says, you
know a lot of people in high profile jobs, they
maintain this pressure. If they would get one of those coughs,
they get rid of all the pressure where you could
let it out the other end too. But you can
(39:25):
do that, though this one doesn't smell it. What do
you think the public sense of Andy Reid is? And
because most of it is through this press, come not
what you and I are doing, because people don't know.
You said, wait a second, this guy is funny, he's
witty's compelling. It's a lot. But if you just want
by those press conferences the same, wait a second, that's
(39:47):
not That's not the guy I know. And I bet
you have friends they're saying, Hey, you say you don't
want to be a comedian, but you do have the
wit to to to drop one or two of those
one liners. And you wonder why not do it? Well, listen,
you do too much of it, and then you're gonna
be criticized for that. The bottom line is give them
information and enough now. Listen, I'm trying to keep a
(40:10):
football team together. I've got sixty five guys and I'm
trying to keep together in a tight bond, and I'm
the leader of that. So they're going to kind of
follow my lead. Um, nobody wants to be criticized out
in public. I don't want to be criticized out in public.
Now it happens, but I surely don't want it from
(40:33):
one of my players, and I don't want it from
Jeff Lury or Joe. I don't want that. I don't
think I don't think anybody wants that. So I'm not
going to do that to the players. I'll take you.
If you're one of my guys, I'm gonna take you
one on one. I'm gonna bring you in the office.
I'm not gonna do it on the field. I'm not
gonna put on a show. I'm gonna take you and
i'm gonna sit you down the chair, and if I've
got an issue with you, we're gonna knock that issue out.
(40:56):
I'm gonna be as straightforward with you as I can.
It might not be what you want to hear or
but I'm gonna shoot you straight. And so you have
to You've got to develop that with the player. If
you want the player to follow you into the the
battle of football, into that game, there's gonna be a
time in a game where that player has got the
(41:16):
ultimate trust in you and and you have to have
the ultimate trust in him. And if you've destroyed that
trust out in public, you can never regain that. Is
this something that you've developed yourself or did you did
you see another coach do do this? What you're talking
about this? I think it's an offensive lineman's mentality. That's
what I really think it is. When you're raised as
(41:38):
an offensive lineman or a defensive lineman, you kind of
understand that that, um, you take care of each other.
You gotta work together, you all gotta dance to dance together.
You gotta trust the guy next year. If you don't,
you're not gonna be any good. Now you're aware that
they're coaches that do the exact opposite that you do.
And example, here we have Jimmy Johnson, who we always
(41:58):
felt used the press conference in the media as a
tool to send the message to its players. You're exactly
the opposite. It's almost with whatever happens, you know, and
he's gonna say it, Uh, we'll get it fixed. It's
my fault. We'll get it fixed. It's my faulty. Well,
I think it's Do you sense any of the fans
frustration with that? When they when they know, damn it, it
(42:20):
it isn't the coach's fault. I mean, and and but
you'll never admit you'll never blame a player. Well, listen,
even when this is where it's my fault, it's my
fault as a leader. So could I have gone back
and help that player more not to make that mistake
as a football coach at your challenge, We're here to
be teachers. That's why we're that's why we're in this profession.
(42:42):
And so did I teach that guy well enough not
to make that mistake? Now? Is there a human error
in the game. Absolutely, that's what makes it so great.
So Um, but but I'll take that. I'll take that
responsibility for what I get down the road. I'll take
that responsibility. Um. What's the nicest thing that anybody ever
(43:03):
said to you? My wife when she tells me she
loves me. It's pretty good. That is. Listen, that's a
good way to end it right there. Tammy and Andy
have experienced such tremendous personal hardship, and getting read to
open up about that is truly one of Steve's gifts
that was on full display here. Meanwhile, two years after
(43:27):
this interview, read the coach. Well he traded Philly cheese
steaks for Kansas City barbecue. Come on, you knew I
had to get in a line about food here. This
is Andy Reid Well. Read is now finally a Super
Bowl champion and incredibly in his ninth season as coach
of the Chiefs. Now Over his career, Read his coached
(43:48):
or developed so many great players. And you can't ask
someone to pick a favorite. It's sort of like asking
which of your five children do you like the best.
But if you really put Read under the microscope, he
tell you his face, Avread is bread Farve. And that's
who's coming up next week. Thanks for coming with me
on this maiden trip inside the NFL Films Vault. Hope
(44:09):
you'll join us again next week. I'm Andrea Kramer.
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