Lurie's final walk to Reid's office
How the Lurie-Reid conversation went.
Lurie's final walk to Reid's office
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
His office? Your office?
“His office,” Jeffrey Lurie said. “When Andy and I talked, especially about these kinds of things, it was usually in his office. I just thought you showed respect by doing it that way.”
It was coming up on 9 o’clock on Monday morning. That is when the Eagles’ owner took the walk down the hall, the walk that he had been dreading. Out the door, down the hall, into a common area and then over to the football side of the NovaCare Complex. Maybe the walk took 15 seconds. Maybe a little bit more.
Fifteen seconds. Fourteen years.
Lurie had known he was going to fire Andy Reid for weeks. After 14 years, he was gong to dismiss the man who did more than anyone in the building to change the culture of the Philadelphia Eagles. It is not like firing a baseball manager or a hockey coach. When you fire a coach in the National Football League, you end up fundamentally altering just about everything involved on the football side of things. It isn’t like you’re just changing the bunt sign.
You say to Lurie that, given everything, it must have been such a weird and uncomfortable conversation. But he brightened at the memory. The press conference was over, and the post-press conference press conference was over, and he was swigging from a bottle of water and smiling what seemed to be a grateful smile -- grateful for Reid’s final act.
“It was so comfortable,” Lurie said. “Oh my God. We were both prepared for this in our own individual ways. We’re close. We’re friends. We knew, both of us. It was unspoken, but we knew. Part of me dreaded it but part of me just knew it was going to be comfortable. You work with somebody for 14 years and you just know.
“We knew it needed a change. It was time for him to have a change. He needs a change even though he was still fired up about the future here.”
We have not yet heard Reid’s side of the conversation. He talked to his players, and then to the entire front office staff, but he offered no public reaction to his firing. Maybe soon, maybe never -- with Reid, you can never be sure.
After today, all of the news looks forward -- to the search for a new coach, and to the decision on how the new coach and general manager Howie Roseman will work together, and to the ritual dismantling of the roster. Because no matter how much the players and Roseman spent Monday talking about a lack of chemistry and leadership in the locker room, Roseman acknowledged that the Eagles did overrate their talent in 2012. As he said, “You’re 4-12. It’s not just chemistry.”
Still, even though the future is more important now, this final day deserves to be respected. The man did win more games than anyone in franchise history. And while Lurie and Joe Banner were the ones who got the stadium and the practice facility built, it was Reid who turned the team into a winner on the field and who kept it there for more than a decade.
But even though it was time, and everyone knew it, that walk down the hall must have been hell. Pretty much every good thing that has happened to the Eagles under Lurie has happened with Reid as his coach. That is a mouthful, but it is true. You can foresee a hopeful future and still recognize everything Reid did. The walk down the hall had to have been hard.
“I don’t know,” Lurie said. “Maybe we’re just so comfortable with each other that, even under the duress of having to do this, it was OK. We were just honest with each other. We’ve been honest with each other forever.
“I was honest when I said that I was just so disappointed and felt like a change was necessary. He accepted my honesty. I accepted his honesty back.”
It was reported that Lurie actually fired Reid on Friday. Lurie said that was not true, but that there was a philosophical conversation between the two men that day.
“We did speak twice,” Lurie said. “We spoke on Friday but there was no decision made. He spoke about his hopes for the future. He offered me a great analysis of where we’re at, and his optimism about the future.
“Today? It was almost sort of a fait accompli. He knew, and I knew, that it was time. That was all.”
With that, for Jeffrey Lurie, there is a final reality on the last day of the Andy Reid era: that while this was certainly the right move, there are no certainties after today.
Some of the decision-making was faulty the past few years, and yes it was time and best for all that Andy Reid moved on. Just want to add that I have had the privilege of meeting him several times over the years and Andy Reid is as good a person as there will ever be running a team in this town. Understand how is business face grated on the public, but he is a genuinely warm and funny man in away from the stadium settings. Time for all the Reids to get away from Philly, but thanks for that period when the Birds were, the hottest item in town. So long to a good man.— frankpantangello- I will always be an Andy Reid fan. I remember in the '70s and '80s, the Eagles were usually underdogs every week. Andy brought the team back to respectability, even though it is not appreciated by many today.— Bobphxville
man,dont anyone get it ;in 10 years from now when this team goes thru nothing but hard times,you guys will say remember the early 2000's when this team was good,it was andy reid who was the coach.i agree with change but come on man,this is a death sentence.im 49 yrs. Old and that time early on my life ends within the next 10 years well i can say there was an good stretch when i was proud to be an eagles fan.thank you andy for all the good things you done- I would think Jeff Lurie is one of the better owners to work for. He stays out of the way and gives the coach a lot of control. He has shown a willingness to spend on free agents and upgrade facilities. Unlike many owners, he isn't clapping on the sideline or 90 years old and clueless. If you were a potential hire, how can he be better?
— hawk18 - I would think Jeff Lurie is one of the better owners to work for. He stays out of the way and gives the coach a lot of control. He has shown a willingness to spend on free agents and upgrade facilities. Unlike many owners, he isn't clapping on the sideline or 90 years old and clueless. If you were a potential hire, how can he be better? (HTML deleted)— hawk18
- hawk18:
I don't care for Lurie: he reminds of a politician and he's part of the wine-and-cheese crowd. But you make very good points about his assets as an owner. Hopefully, he'll have a strong field who'll want to be the next Eagles HC.— Polecat_39 - If Lurie is going to break it all up and start over why is Roseman still the GM? He had as much to do with bringing in some of those stiffs as Andy did.— vietnamvet
- Look Andy, if you go to San Diego I will buy you a Tony Luke's franchise.....deal?— STEPHEN1988
- Who said Lurie has a big head?— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Oh the Drama! Get over yourselves already!— spittooncj
- Reid and Kolb will reunite.......— mainstreet
- Laurie has ridden on Reids shoulders for 14 years. He never had to make
one hard decision in all that time. Money rolled in, fans were content,
for at least 7 years, and he could give his "state of the team" talk
and say really nothing. His laments about the firing seem childlike.
Reid earned $40mil in his years here. The value of the Eagles has quadrupled. From his vantage point there really isn't any downside other than this mythical pursuit of the Gold Standard. NFL is all about
the money. The owners want it , the players covet it and the fans keep
paying.— naplesfan - i have been hoping for some time that AR wud get fired. That
day has finally arrived. Now that he has been fired i do feel
somewhat sad. AR was a fixture on Pattison Ave for 14 yrs
and there were days we all wanted him to be president of the
USA. But those days went away a few yrs ago. For the most
part i think we all agree that most Sundays he made life
better for us for 3 hours. AR has many faults (his sometimes
bad play selection) but generally we cud see he was not a
nasty man like some coaches. The last game of this yr would
been nice if it was a home game and he wud be given a standing
ovation for some very, very good Sundays. Make no mistakes
about it, the man needed to be fired but a pretty good era
of football in Philly is now a thing of the past. Andy, i'm
happy and sad at the same time that you were fired but i
think most fans in Philadelphia wud be happy to shake your
hand and wish you and your family a happy new year and a
happy future. Good Luck and thank for all the victories on
the field.— associate - If you are old enough, you remember the Eagles before coach Reid. For the most part, they were awful. I will never forget what Andy/Donavan/Jim Johnson did for Eagles football. The winningest coach in the franchise's history. The man gave us 20 hour days for 14 years. He neglegected everything in his life for the sake of the Eagles having a chance to win a super bowl. I'm tired of these losers posting all of the negatives about Andy, instead of thanking him for the greatest era of Eagles football ever!! I sure not a single one of you would pay the price he did, losing Garett, for the sake of a championship. What more can you ask of a person? Show some class and thank the man! Thanks Andy for everything and good luck in the future!— cheesewith
- It is obvious that some of the pea-brains who comment here have never had to fire a loyal, long time employee who, like Andy Reid, had performed well for a number of years. It's also obvious that people have selective memories about previous Eagles owners and coaches; if you're old enough to rememeber, would you even think about putting Norman Braman or Leonard Tose in the same category as Jeff Lurie? No way.— chesapeake
