Andy Reid is not going anywhere.
The Chiefs head coach confirmed Tuesday that he will return in 2025 for his 13th season with the team.
“Yes, I’ll be back,” Reid said.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said Monday that he expected Reid to return, prompting the question to Reid at his Tuesday news conference.
Reid turns 67 in March. His 273 regular-season wins are fourth all time. He is 55 behind Don Shula. Reid said chasing the record is not his motivation to keep coaching.
“That’s not part of it,” Reid said. “I just enjoy teaching. I don’t get caught up much in the stats or the records. I enjoy being around the guys. I enjoy football, the game. You can’t put in the hours we do and not enjoy it. I love the game.”
Three for three
George Karlaftis is batting 1.000.
Three years in the NFL with the Chiefs, three Super Bowl appearances, a third ring on tap — with a win against the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
Can he even imagine a world in which he doesn’t make it to the final game of the season?
“I wouldn’t want to,” Karlaftis deadpanned.
Karlaftis doesn’t need a reminder that he is lucky. He can look at teammate DeAndre Hopkins — once the best receiver in the NFL — finally making it to the Super Bowl for the first time in his 12th season, or think back to one of his rookie mentors, Carlos Dunlap, finally playing in and winning the Super Bowl in his final NFL game.
But if he did need a reminder, leave it to Travis Kelce.
“Talking to Travis, he’s like, ‘Do you realize how lucky you are to be in this situation?’ Karlaftis said. “You can’t take that stuff for granted.”
Ref boss bites back
One day after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called it “ridiculous” to think that there is an officiating agenda to help the Chiefs win, NFL Referees Association executive director Scott Green doubled down.
“It is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 officiating crews consisting of 138 officials are colluding to assist one team,” Green told Fox Sports.
The theories exist because the Chiefs have won an unprecedented 17 straight one-score games and have been called for 30 fewer penalties than their opponents over their past 12 playoff games.
Can’t get sidetracked
Donald Trump is expected to become the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl.
“That’s cool, but Donald’s not on that field,” said Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata, a native of Australia. “But that’s a part of blocking out the noise. What am I going to do thinking about Donald Trump? How’s that going to make me win the game?’’
Hawkeye hoopla
Eagles rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean is a fan of another rookie from Iowa: WNBA sensation Caitlin Clark, his fellow former Hawkeye.
“I think she’s probably the most exciting player to watch right now, men or women’s basketball,” DeJean said. “Just the way she plays the game, she can score, she can pass, she can do it all. She’s taking women’s basketball to new heights.”
Brady rule lifted
A broadcast restriction Tom Brady has faced as a minority owner of the Raiders will be lifted as he prepares to call the Super Bowl with Fox.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback has been granted access to production meetings with the Chiefs ahead of Sunday’s game, Hunt said Tuesday, a brief reversal of the restrictions on Brady this season.
“When [Brady] was approved as an owner of the Raiders, there were a lot of discussions internally [among owners] and that ended up being the recommendation of the league office, that it didn’t make sense to have him in the production meetings,” Hunt said, according to The Athletic. “That’s where that rule came from. Since he’s doing the game this week, we have no issue with him being in our production meetings. He’ll have the access that any broadcaster would have.”
