Just like former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher resigned after the 2006 season, Reid may feel the need to step away from coaching for a few seasons. Cowher, however, retired a year after winning Super Bowl XL, while Reid has never won football's ultimate game.
His Sons
In November of 2007, Andy Reid's sons, Britt and Garrett, were sentenced to 23 months in prison for weapons and drug charges. Reid has stated that his sons' failures have not interfered with his coaching duties and insists that he can balance his family life with his coaching responsibilities. However, the burden of having his sons in prison has to be an enormous emotional burden on Reid.
In 2007, Reid said, “As long as Jeffrey Lurie will have me, and as long as I can do my job to the best of my ability, I would love to be an Eagle.”
This may not be the case anymore.
Questions also have risen about the future of five-time Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb. McNabb was selected as Reid's first draft pick in 1999, and Reid has stuck with his quarterback for the past decade. Throughout the division titles and last-place finishes, Reid has always started Donovan McNabb as his quarterback.
However, in a blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens this past November, Reid benched his franchise quarterback, leading many to speculate about the future of the greatest quarterback in team history.
McNabb was back in the starting lineup the next week and has remained the team's starter ever since.
A lot could happen in the season finale.
The Eagles could beat the Cowboys and sneak into the playoffs; they could beat the Cowboys and miss the playoffs; and they could lose to the Cowboys and watch Dallas earn the final wild-card spot.
The legacy of Andy Reid, as well as Donovan McNabb, may be riding on the season's final game this Sunday. Let's hope it doesn't, but it may very well be.
Regardless of what happens to Reid and McNabb following the 2008 season, I ask you, Eagles fans, to remember Reid and McNabb not for what they failed to do in their ten years together, but instead for what they did do.
Six playoff appearances. Five division titles. One Super Bowl berth. And the greatest 10 year stretch in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles.
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