Hall of Famer Calls Andy Reid Unprofessional

On Sunday, Eagles middle linebacker Stewart Bradley left practice and reportedly needed an MRI on his knee, which was to take place yesterday. By now you know the news that the Bradley -- slated to start for the Birds this season -- is most likely lost for the year after tearing his ACL. ↵↵The news was all over the internet and dominated local sports talk radio coverage yesterday afternoon. Every sports fan in Philadelphia took a respite from first-place baseball to wallow in the pre-season misery of the Eagles.↵

↵↵Everyone was talking about the news. Everyone except Andy Reid.↵

↵↵Those who’ve followed Reid’s career in Philadelphia know that he habitually plays mind games with the reporters who cover the team. Reid decides what’s news and what isn’t, and yesterday was no exception. When Reid heard that reports had leaked on the extent of Bradley’s injury, Reid did what he always does -- he blamed the media.↵

↵↵⇥“Some of your colleagues here decided that they would go to the players and/or other personnel here and ask about injuries,” Reid said, beginning his lecture. “I made a pact with you guys when I first got here that I would disclose to you the injuries, that you just stay away from the players, stay away from the other personnel in the organization and I would take care of you with that.↵⇥
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↵⇥↵⇥“That pact was breached.”↵⇥

↵↵Reid refused to talk about the injury yesterday, stating only that Bradley “did not practice today.” This is not the first time Reid has stonewalled the media, but it might be the most blatant and disrespectful.
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One reporter who seemingly isn’t going to take it anymore is CSN Philly’s Ray Didinger, who wrote:↵↵⇥I didn’t realize that coming to the Eagles’ training camp meant I was working for Andy Reid. I thought I was here as a reporter. Silly me. Well, that’s OK. Andy set me straight after Monday’s practice.↵⇥
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↵⇥We’re expected to take orders from him -- all of us in the media. We’re supposed to do what we’re told. If we don’t, there will be consequences. Reid made that very clear.↵⇥
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↵⇥Football coaches are all about control, I understand that. And the Eagles are all about controlling the message. I get that, too. But Reid’s handling of the Bradley injury was outrageous. It was more than arrogant, it was unprofessional.↵↵↵For those not in Philadelphia, Didinger isn’t just some first-year beat writer or a sports-talk radio loudmouth who called Reid unprofessional. Ray Didinger is a Hall-of-Fame writer, both in the state of Pennsylvania -- he was the state’s Sportswriter of the Year five times -- and in the eyes of the Pro Football Writers of America, as Didinger was honored with the Dick McCann Award in 2005.↵

↵↵Again, Ray Didinger is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Andy Reid ... is not.↵

↵↵We all know that football coaches are control freaks. Coaches are so accustomed to yelling at grown men on the practice field, many lose the ability to filter back into normal, professional conversation when addressing the media. But if Reid is mad at anyone, he should be mad at his players and his staff for giving the reporters news-breaking information. It’s not the media’s fault your own staff doesn’t listen to you. And this wasn’t a personal matter about his family he can recuse himself from commenting on, which has happened in each of the last few seasons and the media in Philadelphia has handled with courtesy and professionalism each time. This was a news story. And much to Reid’s chagrin, it was broken before he wanted it to be.↵

↵↵That’s no reason to act like a Big Red bully.↵

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