NFL Head Coach
A friend writes:
3 years ago you woulda heard how Tony Dungy and Andy Reid were the greatest people on earth. And, oddly, I predict lots of similar talk this weekend about Reid on the NBC pre-game show, and an insane amount of glorification of him by Madden and Michaels.
They will glorify Reid. Remember, these are the same 2 guys [Madden and Michaels] who double-handedly turned Brett Favre into some sort of bizarre national hero when he abandoned his family in Mississippi and selfishly went off to play a MNF game against Oakland after his father died, a game that still gets jammed down our throats as if somehow playing football rather than staying with your family during a tragedy was -- OF COURSE -- the right thing to do.
God forbid, imagine if any of us had a similar level tragedy and we told our families: "Sorry, but Dad/Mom would have wanted me to stay here [in the Capitol/at the law firm/at the accounting office/at the news desk/etc] working."
But that's the NFL mentality. And on Sunday, Reid will be glorified as a similarly great man for showing up to coach a fucking football game while his family completely crumbles. It will make me want to vomit.
But not nearly as much as I'll want to vomit when Reid calls a shotgun formation and motions the lone running back out of the backfield on a 3rd and 1 situation.
I couldn't agree more (about Reid, Madden and Michaels, and the empty backfield 3rd and 1)..The glorification of the NFL head coach work "ethic" has reached ridiculous proportions. it is time that people start asking hard questions about these coaches' time management skills and also the personal and emotional toll these long hours bring. They will glorify Reid. Remember, these are the same 2 guys [Madden and Michaels] who double-handedly turned Brett Favre into some sort of bizarre national hero when he abandoned his family in Mississippi and selfishly went off to play a MNF game against Oakland after his father died, a game that still gets jammed down our throats as if somehow playing football rather than staying with your family during a tragedy was -- OF COURSE -- the right thing to do.
God forbid, imagine if any of us had a similar level tragedy and we told our families: "Sorry, but Dad/Mom would have wanted me to stay here [in the Capitol/at the law firm/at the accounting office/at the news desk/etc] working."
But that's the NFL mentality. And on Sunday, Reid will be glorified as a similarly great man for showing up to coach a fucking football game while his family completely crumbles. It will make me want to vomit.
But not nearly as much as I'll want to vomit when Reid calls a shotgun formation and motions the lone running back out of the backfield on a 3rd and 1 situation.
Here's an example of the absurdity of this line of thinking. It's from the Associated Press' Jim Litke. "The Redskins' Joe Gibbs was one of the first control-freak coaches, so much so that on his first go-round in Washington, he famously had his wife tape the dinner-table conversation on nights he didn't make it home , which was often. But he was able to balance work and family life without so much as a hiccup."
Gibbs freakin' had his wife tape the dinner conversations cause he wasn't there and wanted to listen to what he was missing. it is admirable but insane. Litke thinks it is an example of Gibbs being able to "balance work and family life."
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