KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Less than three days before Super Bowl LV, Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s son was hospitalized after a car crash that also left two children hospitalized, including one with life-threatening injuries.
Britt Reid, who serves as the Chiefs’ outside linebackers coach, admitted in a search warrant he'd been drinking before he crashed his truck into two vehicles parked on an entrance ramp from Stadium Drive to Interstate 435 near Arrowhead Stadium.
A 5-year-old girl suffered a brain injury in the crash, which occurred shortly after 9 p.m. on Thursday night.
But Andy Reid refused to use the situation with his son as an excuse for Kansas City’s 31-9 loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
“I'd be lying if I didn't tell you my heart bleeds for the people involved in it,” Andy Reid said during a postgame press conference.
However, as far as preparing for the Super Bowl, Andy Reid said the Chiefs installed the game plan for a rematch from Week 12 during the bye week.
“We had put the game plan in the week before, so the distraction wasn’t a distraction as far as the game plan goes,” Andy Reid said. “That was already in, and how we were going to work with it and go forward.”
He seemed to allow for the fact that it served as a personal distraction with Britt Reid, who did not travel to the game, reportedly still hospitalized in Kansas City.
Andy Reid called it “a loaded question” and added reiterated that “from a human standpoint, yeah, it’s, it’s a tough one. From a football standpoint, two separate things, from a football standpoint, that wasn’t. I don’t think that was the problem.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes also addressed the situation.
“It was a tragic situation all around,” Mahomes said. “You’re praying for everyone that was involved. But we went into the game and I felt like he was still coach Reid, still the same guy.”
Mahomes said it was “hard to put into words” how the situation affected the team. He offered prayers for the children and family involved, but said it didn’t take away from the Buccaneers’ performance.
Andy Reid credited Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles for putting together a solid game plan that kept the Chiefs off balance.
“I didn’t see it coming at all,” Andy Reid said. "I thought we were going to come in and play these guys just like we’ve been playing teams... I didn’t anticipate this happening, no.”
Despite the offensive line’s struggles, Andy Reid also refused to blame the patchwork protection unit for the loss.
"I'm not going to lay this all on the O-line,” Andy Reid said. “When we lose, we all lose together on this."