ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Barren white walls behind him in his makeshift office in a snug dorm room at Missouri Western’s Scanlon Hall, play sheets and notepads and an iPad among a few bare essentials on his adjacent desk, Andy Reid on Wednesday morning basked in his habitat for what has become an annual rite.
Free from the glare of cameras and sheer number of mics as he met with eight writers (and several Chiefs staff members) who most regularly cover the team — including four of us from The Kansas City Star — Reid sat back in his chair in the setting he relishes for its cinder blocks. He was about as at ease as we ever get to see him these days. So much so that his demeanor reminded me of the affable, amusing and passionate Reid I knew when he was a Mizzou assistant coach from 1989-91 — before he made what he at the time told me was a painstaking decision to join his friend and mentor Mike Holmgren with the Green Bay Packers.
Back then, Reid was known for his intensity — MU lineman Brad Funk once told me Reid could get so “red in the face that he looked like his head was going to blow off” — and humor: When a few of his linemen came to his house one Halloween, he cited a potential NCAA violation to refuse them candy — a story he remembered fondly when I reminded him about it a few years ago. All of that personality remains, as you see more and more in his commercial appearances. And that disposition still defines him to those who know him best.
But as an NFL hea.