Kevin Kolb: Players Cry in Andy Reid’s Office and He Protects Them

Kevin Kolb spoke with guest host Howard Eskin on The Dan Patrick Show Tuesday and said he’s not expecting to be with the Eagles after the lockout ends. Kolb said playing for Arizona would be nice, and Eskin insisted Kolb would be be traded there (he must read LBS). In addition to the talk of Kolb’s future, there was another interesting nugget shared during the interview. Kolb depicted Reid as quite the players’ coach.

“I have seen him take the bullet for so many players that the media had no idea about, that the fans had no idea about,” Kolb said. “He sat up there and took up for his player, and the player is in his office crying in a tough situation, and Andy’s just sitting there with a shield on taking bullets for him.

“So he puts himself in those situations, but there’s a reason he does it, and that’s how he gets respect from his players and that’s why guys play so hard for him. And I just hope that in the future everybody will look at whatever situation he’s in, going, ‘He’s crazy for doing this. Why’s he doing this?’ Well, there’s a reason he’s doing it.”

We got a sense that Reid was a players’ coach when he and the Eagles signed Michael Vick after he was released from prison. Another example may have been when kicker David Akers missed two field goals against the Packers in the playoffs. There were reports that Akers was distracted by personal issues during the game. Reid didn’t say anything about it and didn’t blame Akers the way other coaches have gone after their kickers.

Despite all his shortcomings (e.g. pass-to-run play ratio), Reid is one of the best coaches in the NFL. We knew players liked him, but now we have a much better understanding why.