PHOENIX — Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has longstanding ties to Arizona. He was an offensive line coach up at Northern Arizona University in the late 1980s, plus, his wife and her family are from State 48.
“We drop in every now and again and the Valley has grown,” Reid said on Tuesday. “I still remember driving from Los Angeles and I-10 stopped by where the stadium is, and you’d get off and go through a bunch of fields there to get to Glendale. It's grown and grown and grown.”
The Kelce brothers will be making history as the first siblings to play against each other in the Super Bowl and coach Reid has become an extension of their family.
When Reid was head coach of the Eagles, Jason was drafted to Philadelphia and two years later, when Reid was head coach of the Chiefs, he brought Travis to Kansas City.
“Once I knew it was coach Reid, he just asked me ‘Are you gonna screw this up? I need a mature guy. I don't need a guy that's gonna come in and be silly and not be focused on the task at hand,’” Kelce said. “Sure enough, I said ‘I'll try and be the best tight end you've ever had.’ And he asked me to hand the phone over to my brother. I’m not sure exactly what he asked my brother, but he asked him a few things and I guess he just told him to keep an eye out for me.”
Whether you're calling it the Super Bowl, the “Andy Reid Bowl” or the “Kelce Bowl,” you can expect Chiefs Kingdom we'll have State Farm Stadium rocking on Sunday.
Follow the conversation with Lina Washington on Twitter: @LWashingtonTV. If you have a sports story idea, e-mail Lina at LWashington@12News.com.
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