During the last year, the Kansas City Chiefs had multiple star players involved in off-field controversies, with Tyreek Hill being the most recent culprit. On Monday, Kevin Kietzman, afternoon host on Kansas City’s Sports Radio 810 WHB, criticized Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid for his handling of the Tyreek Hill situation. Kietzman, however, crossed a line according to many, when he brought Reid’s family into the conversation.
“The thing is, they probably think they can fix him, but they thought they could fix him before and they failed. Andy Reid does not have a great record of fixing players, he doesn’t. Discipline is not his thing, it did not work out particularly well in his family life and that needs to be added to this as we’re talking about the Chiefs. He wasn’t real great at that either. He’s had a lot of things go bad on him, family and players,” Kietzman said during his show.
In 2012, Andy Reid’s son, Garrett Reid, was found dead due to a heroin overdose. Garrett battled addiction for years, spending time in jail for dealing drugs, while his brother Britt was also sentenced to time in prison on drug and weapon charges. Kietzman never directly mentioned Garrett’s death and has since said it’s not what he was referring to when bringing Reid’s family into the Tyreek Hill discussion, but that was not clarified during the initial quote. Kietzman later explained he made the point about Reid’s family because Andy’s sons were hired after being convicted drug dealers, which fits into the trend of attempting to “fix” players.
Kietzman’s comments generated plenty of negative reaction, including ESPN’s Louis Riddick who, like many, heard the audio and felt the Kansas City radio host crossed a line.
Monday night, Kietzman went on Twitter to try and clarify his intentions, explaining that once Reid hired his sons, Garrett and Britt as assistants, they became public figures and discussing them is no longer a private matter.
Kietzman’s explanation is fair, but using Reid’s family as an example of the head coach attempting to “fix” people, when his son is deceased was bound to be met with controversy. The radio host never directly connected the death of Garrett Reid to the head coach’s handling of players, but that didn’t stop the audience from interpreting it that way.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
