Who won the divorce? It’s a question we always ask ourselves when a great QB and his head coach part ways. See: Belichick and Brady or Rodgers and LaFleur. Some might say breakups are inevitable, while others might say a healthy relationship can survive its ups and downs.
While it’s never safe to predict the future in sports, we can’t see Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes separating any time soon. The two are not only fresh off of winning three of the last five Super Bowls, but they’ve also become a sparkling acting duo on TV commercials..
Though the Chiefs head coach is as lovable as they come, the media has only seen glimpses of his outsized personality over the years. That’s why it came to much surprise when Big Red appeared on our TV screens alongside Mahomes on those cheesy yet endearing State Farm commercials.
At 65, Reid may be the oldest coach in the NFL, but it feels like he’s still climbing. Since his 60th birthday, Reid has collected three Lombardi trophies, four Super Bowl appearances, and is now an emerging actor for one of our country's biggest insurance corporations.
Despite the success and attention, Coach Reid still sticks to his roots. He’s a cheeseburger-loving, mustache-wearing nice guy who claims to have been loyal to only one insurance carrier his whole life. After filming another State Farm ad in Kansas City, we sat down with Coach Reid to talk Mahomes, Kelce, cheesesteaks, and more.
West: I was tipped off that you were a State Farm loyalist long before Patrick was. Did that make it easier for him to rope you into all of this?
Coach Reid: Listen, I've been with State Farm longer than Patrick's been on this Earth. They’ve been my insurance carrier for a long time, so I didn't get roped into this. It was easy. Pat and I had talked and he asked me if I wanted to do this and I said, yeah, let me think about it. But yeah, I think I do. And so I did.
West: Was that your first time acting?
Coach Reid: Yeah, basically,
West: Are you happy with the results?
Coach Reid: It's been great. I mean, the people here are phenomenal. They treat you really well.
West: Does filming big commercials with your quarterback make your relationship stronger? This is an experience I doubt a lot of quarterbacks and head coaches have gotten to experience together before.
Coach Reid: Yeah I think so. The more time you spend away from the field with somebody, you're going to get a different perspective of how they handle themselves—and he does everything so gracefully. I've obviously done other events with him, quite a few now over the years, and he really handles himself well.
West: Do you have a favorite memory from filming these? A blooper perhaps.
Coach Reid: My favorite blooper was when we did the hamburger shoot. Same shoot as the nuggies but we started off with hamburgers. I made a pact with myself, just being a cheeseburger connoisseur, that I wouldn’t use the spit bucket. But after about the 60th cheeseburger, I had to go there. So I did use the spit bucket—but that wasn’t the funniest part. One of the producers wanted me to do my lines with my mouth full of cheeseburger. Pat is sitting right in front of me with Jake from State Farm, and so I’m trying to do this and there’s cheeseburger flying everywhere, right at these guys' faces. They couldn’t hold a straight face, they were dying laughing. Then finally Patrick goes “Cut! We’re not doing this.” That was really awesome.
West: The red shoes you wore a few nights ago had the internet up in arms. Were those all red Air Force 1s?
Coach Reid: Those were Air Force 1s. But I'm breaking the Skechers out here, too.
West: You've always been an Air Force 1 guy, to my understanding.
Coach Reid: I have been.
West: When is the right time to wear white Air Force 1s and when is the right time to bring out the black Air Force 1s in your eyes?
Coach Reid: So I wear the Air Force 1s on game day. And on game day they're black. I've got the white pair too, obviously. I'm transitioning into Skechers off the field, but I had never worn a pair of Skechers. I tried 'em on. I went, whoa, these are pretty good. Very comfortable, but I've always respected the Air Force 1s.
West: I wouldn't be doing my job if I never asked you about the pass, punt, and kick picture. I actually have it on a T-shirt. Can you take us back to that day?
Coach Reid: Yeah, the players ask me the same thing. They kill me on it. So the kid… we were grouped ages 8 through 13. I was 13, he was 8. So then you just rotate around. So it was my turn to throw, and the 8-year-old was right behind me. But yeah, the other 13-year-old on the other side was a big ol’ kid too, and they didn't capture him, I don't think.
West: It's a pretty beautiful picture. Speaking of big: Travis has a big personality. You guys have a lot of history. Is there a Travis Kelce story that encompasses your guys' relationship and stands out to you?
Coach Reid: There are a lot of stories. Travis started off when he was young, he was a live wire, but always with a big heart. So he might've made a mistake, but he apologized and always told me the truth on it. I don't know if that's good or bad, but he did. I think it's good. But we've had a ton of those types of experiences where things weren't quite going and he might've been late to something here or there and we'd hash it out. But I'll take you to the one in the Super Bowl—the epitome of Travis Kelce. So I took him out of the game for a play and he didn't want any part of that. Here's a guy that's been playing for as many years as he's been there and he wants to be in the game. So he comes up and he gives me the business—although I wouldn't look at him—so he about knocked me into the first row. About five minutes later he puts his arm around me. That's him. I mean that's the epitome of Travis Kelce. So he kind of goofed and then he said, “Don't listen to me, don't listen to me. I'm good.” And then he went on and had a great fourth quarter in Super Bowl.
West: As you mentioned earlier, you are a cheeseburger connoisseur. You’re also a connoisseur of Hawaiian shirts. What is the worst condiment stain that could get on a good Hawaiian shirt? What condiment do you fear the most?
Coach Reid: Yeah, so there's not many because it's all determined by the color of the Hawaiian shirt. And when Tommy Bahama puts 'em together, man, they put 'em together with mass variety. So ketchup's always one. Yeah, ketchup's always one. And you get that, you better have red on.
West: Convenient for you.
Coach Reid: True. The second one you got to go with mustard. But that ketchup's a killer, and I'm a dribbler man, so I've had a little bit of ketchup on those Tommy Bahamas.
West: This may ruffle feathers but I’m a foodie and need to know: Which city is a better food city in your eyes, Kansas City or Philadelphia?
Coach Reid: That's a tough one because I got to about 400 pounds in Philadelphia. But yet I love every barbecue place in Kansas City. So that might be a jump ball.
West: Favorite cheesesteak place in Philadelphia?
Coach Reid: Gino and Pat's are just too traditional. I mean, they're right there and they do a great job. I used to favor Pat's, but they gave 'em to me for free. Pat's might have just been closer or something, but I ended up going there more.
West: We'll end here with football. Obviously, a three-peat is on the horizon. What are you looking forward to about the season and what new challenges may come with that pressure?
Coach Reid: I mean we've got this three-peat thing sitting in front of us and it's a great challenge to be out there. Our players talk about that. There's just a lot of things that have to take place. So as a coach, I've got to make sure that we do all the steps to give us an opportunity to get there and start with hard work during training camp, that's in a month. So we've got to get ourselves ready for that. And you can't skip steps or you're never going to get to that three-peat. And the guys understand that they did a nice job this offseason. Hopefully we can bundle all of this as well as State Farm does. Boom.
