Coaching Eagles Is a Blessing and a Curse

PHILADELPHIA — On Jan. 11, 1999, Andy Reid became the coach of the Eagles. Several days after his hiring, he arrived in a winter storm, worked a long day and went to an Italian restaurant in South Philadelphia. A priest walked in, recognized Reid, blessed him and wished him good luck.he businessmen at the next table became curious. They were drinking something stronger than iced tea. Upon learning who the burly diner was, one of the men stood and said, “Yo, Coach Reid, welcome to Philadelphia.”

Then everyone at the table booed in unison.

“You know,” said Butch Buchanico, the Eagles’ director of security, who had accompanied Reid, “you set a record. You ain’t in this town 12 hours, you ain’t played a game, and you got booed and blessed at the same time.”

A decade later, as the Eagles (10-6-1) face the Giants (12-4) in the divisional playoffs Sunday, the feelings about Reid here are no less complicated.Win or lose against the Giants, Reid is certain to begin his post game news conference, not with an emotional recounting, but with a bloodless, monotone recitation of the various muscles, ligaments and joints injured when large men hit each other at high speed. He will mention pulled hamstrings and sprained knees. He will probably use euphemisms like dinged and tweaked, and he will speak with such low affect that he might be talking of automobile parts that can be hammered into shape in a body shop. Then he will say tersely to reporters, “Time’s yours.”

Referring to the rationing of civic approval, Reid said: “In a lot of cities, it’s game to game. In Philadelphia, it’s play to play, and you have to love that.”

If the Eagles beat the Giants, many will consider this season a belated success. A defeat will stir the pot of dissent once again. Reid understands. Anyone who has been simultaneously blessed and booed would.