Want to know why Andy Reid never won a Super Bowl during his 14 seasons coaching the Philadelphia Eagles?
Former Eagles star cornerback Asante Samuel has a theory because he witnessed it first-hand. It all relates to how Reid treated legendary Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb. More precisely, it’s the fact Reid let McNabb do what he wanted and didn’t hold him to a high enough standard. Samuel would know about execution as a guy who won two Super Bowls under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
“Andy Reid would have won more Super Bowls if we were able to apply more discipline to Donovan McNabb — if we were able to hold him accountable more and not treat him like a baby,” Samuel said on “Said What Needs to Be Said” podcast Monday.
Samuel explained that the bad habits started in practice, a place where Brady and Belichick demanded perfection because of how it translated to games. Mistakes could mean practices started anew, Samuel said.
In Philadelphia, the Eagles’ offense would run a simple play with no defense, and McNabb, who played for the Eagles from 1999-2009, would often throw the ball into the dirt. Instead of frustration or a lashing from Reid or the coaching staff, however, nothing happened.
“How are we not going execute a ball from the quarterback to the receiver without anybody out there, let alone when someone goes out there?” asked Samuel, who was with the Eagles from 2008-11. “These things would go on a lot in practice and no one was saying anything. It bothered me.”
After seeing this too many times and “life (going) on like nothing ever happened,” Samuel went to Reid to express his dissatisfaction. The cornerback, who made three Pro Bowl teams with the Eagles, was stunned to hear Reid’s response.
“‘Asante, it’s your job to discipline and reprimand any of the players on the team — that’s your job. Leaders take care of that,” Samuel said Reid told him.
Samuel said he “was so confused,” but he realized then that McNabb, the No. 2 overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft out of Syracuse University, was coddled from the start.
“They raised him that way,” Samuel said.
It all came to a head in the worst way during the 2009 NFC Championship game, Samuel said. That’s when McNabb missed a wide-open Desean Jackson multiple times against the Arizona Cardinals, a 32-25 loss.
“The ball fell short, right into the dirt on like three plays that were a touchdown,” Samuel said.
Under Reid and McNabb, the Eagles reached the playoffs eight times, including losing in Super Bowl XXXIX to Samuel’s former team, the New England Patriots.
While McNabb ranks No. 1 in Eagles franchise history in passing yards (32,873) and touchdowns (216), it was the culture Reid, whom Samuel respects as an all-time great coach, established with him that kept them short of the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl.
“I wanted to help the change, but it was already set in stone who he was. I couldn’t challenge him the way I wanted to challenge him and try to make him that better person because it was already who he was. And that’s my Andy Ried story on why he wasn’t able to win Super Bowls at the Eagles because it was there.”
Reid will look to win his third Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers
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