Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is widely regarded as one of the greatest NFL minds in NFL history over the course of his illustrious coaching career. And a big reason for his offensive success is how open he is to implementing new ideas from all willing to chime in, even the team janitor…
Reid recently went on the Green Light Podcast hosted by former NFL defensive lineman Chris Long, where he told a wild story about how he once took an offensive concept from a team janitor while he was with the Green Bay Packers organization in the late 1990s.
“Oh absolutely, yeah,” said Reid when asked if he took offensive concepts from those at a lower level of football. I took one from a janitor once in Green Bay. We had a janitor, it was a mom-and-pop group that cleaned our facility forever. And then they worked game day. He was the owner of the company, the father of the family. And he goes ‘I’ve got this play for you.’ And he kept telling me this over and over again.
Andy Reid once used a JANITOR'S play design in a game…and it WORKED! #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/mXYdgY8bi7
— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) August 30, 2023
Perhaps even crazier than this janitor pitching the idea, is that Reid actually took his advice and it worked when he actually tried the concept.
“Finally, I said okay, here is a card. Draw up the play. He drew up the play and I said ‘Dang, that’s pretty good.’ We called the play just before halftime and it scored. We’ll take it from anywhere.”
Fans took notice of Reid’s admission and couldn’t believe that someone of his caliber would take advice from a team janitor.
This is pretty awesome.
Shows the importance of having an open mind 👌🏼 https://t.co/kTEysKUsm6
— Bearsszn (@bearssznn) August 30, 2023
This is great https://t.co/rGtaH7kVNY
— jamie stuart (@jamiestuartTV) August 31, 2023
taking plays from janitors?? this is WILD 🤣 https://t.co/EbHG8LezfM
— Paul🏆Back 2 Back Pacheco🏆 (@PaulHBK) August 31, 2023
Andy is just simply THE BEST! https://t.co/bljwVzZ3Xp
— Dr Jekyll (@GetReady88) August 31, 2023
A good idea comes from anywhere. So few people realize that.
I love this story. 👇🏻 https://t.co/hfjh3vXYDT— Axe (@scottaxe) August 30, 2023
That’s it, I’m going to start dropping index cards around Arrowhead hopes Big Red comes across one and puts it in the install. https://t.co/HqoH2gKnD5
— Rocky Magaña (a pleasant son of a buck) (@RockyMagana) August 31, 2023
A good idea can come from anywhere, and Reid’s ability to realize that is certainly a huge factor in why he has had so much success in his career.
