Reid run amuck

By John McMullen

(The Phanatic Magazine) - In 1999 I was living in Apple Valley, Minn., following the Vikings around so I never received a copy of Andy Reid's Dave Spadaro inspired handbook on how to behave around the exalted one and his team.

I am a pretty fast study though. Since returning to Philly, it hasn't been all that hard to pick up on Reid's legendary arrogance and the impact it has had on the entire Eagles organization.

I suppose if I genuflected when Reid entered a room, I could have the run of the NovaCare complex like a certain WIP employee that broke the Stewart Bradley story on Monday.

In case you missed it, Reid was incensed when several reporters had the nerve to do their jobs without the expressed written consent of the Birds' mentor. According to Reid, a pact was breached. A pact that no reporter I know knew of or signed off on.

"Injuries," Reid began his press conference Monday. "We won't talk about injuries today. Some of your colleagues here decided that they would go to the players and/or other personnel here and ask about injuries. I made a pact with you guys when I first got here that I would disclose to you the injuries, that you just stay away from the players, stay away from the other personnel in the organization and I would take care of you with that.

"That part was breached."

Funny thing is, Reid wasn't mad at his house boy for breaking the story. Far from it, he was mad at the real reporters trying to confirm the story by doing things reporters do. Stupid things like calling agents and players to get the real scoop.

I'm not even sure he was really angry at that. Andy may has just had a really bad couple of weeks. His highly-regarded defensive coordinator passed, his first round pick was playing hardball and he had just lost his Dick Butkus-like middle linebacker (tongue planted firmly in cheek) for the season.

None of that explains being unprofessional, however.

You see, not every reporter has their nose firmly planted up Reid's posterior in exchange for the extra access. Some even take things like their credibility seriously and try to do the job to the best of their abilities despite the hurdles Reid places in front of them.

The latest hurdle may be the largest. I'm not sure if it's the arrogance, hubris or just plain ignorance but Reid thinks the assembled reporters around him on a daily basis are his employees. In the coach's warped reality, journalists are expected to take orders from him just like his players and Spadaro.

If you balk, risk be thrown out of Reid's little fiefdom, a death sentence for any beat reporter.

I'm on record...Reid is a great coach and anyone who reaches the top of any profession has a healthy ego. It's an almost necessary byproduct of success.

That said, Reid has now stepped over the line. His ego and arrogance have run amuck and are no
longer healthy for this team or organization. It's time for Jeffrey Lurie and Joe Banner to step in.

It's been done before. The latest example taking place 90 minutes north in Major League Baseball. Joe Girardi took over for the extremely popular Joe Torre with the New York Yankees before the 2008 season and often butted heads with his local media. General Manager Brian Cashman realized Girardi's confrontational style was doing him no favors and ordered him to lighten up in the offseason.

Reid may act like a dictator but at the end of the day, he's still an employee...an employee that needs to be reigned in.