Andy Reid is a football genius in almost every sense of the word.
The Kansas City Chiefs head coach has the fourth-most career wins in NFL history (297 and counting), and is the only head coach in NFL history who has won 100 games with two franchises (Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles).
‘Big Red’ has revitalized the Chiefs since taking over in 2011, masterminding one of the NFL’s greatest modern dynasties which is currently gunning for an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat season behind the magic of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
It’s rare for anyone to get the better of Reid, but that’s exactly what happened back in 1994 when he was an assistant with the Green Bay Packers under head coach Mike Holmgren.
Holmgren and Reid were joined on that staff by Jon Gruden, the future Raiders head coach who won Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Oakland back in 2002.
At the time, Reid coached the Packers tight ends and offensive line, while Gruden was the offensive assistant and wide receivers coach.
Gruden recently appeared on the ‘Bussin’ With The Boys’ podcast, where he revealed his biggest rival was Reid and told an incredible story about their competitiveness during their Green Bay days.
“We’re on Mike Holmgren’s staff in Green Bay. Andy played for Mike Holmgren at BYU, so there’s kind of a teacher’s pet,” Gruden told host Will Compton.
“So, we had this big board, me, [Steve] Mariucci, and Andy Reid were young coaches at the time, and we would put the plays on the board with the formations, and these are the plays that we think should be in a game plan.
“Holmgren was always like, ‘Whose play is that?’ Andy goes, ‘That’s my play,’ Mike would put it in, and Andy would look at me and mooch like, ‘I’m smarter than you guys.'”
Gruden, a former analyst on Monday Night Football, then told a brilliant story about the one time got one over on ‘Big Red’.
The 61-year-old remembered a game the Packers played against the Chicago Bears on Halloween in ’94.
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Gruden mentioned the torrential conditions as well as Packers quarterback Brett Favre’s memorable play.
Favre scrambled for a 36-yard touchdown run on bootleg keeper — instead of pitching to running back Edgar Bennett — on the way to a 33-6 win against a fierce division rival.
Gruden said he was especially pleased with the play, as it was one he designed, and revealed how it curried favor with Holmgren which he rubbed in Reid’s face.
Gruden explained, “So, we get on the plane [after the game], and Holm is sitting in the front with Ron Wolf, the GM, and I’m in the back… I got my beer, and I’m drinking it. I’m thinking, ‘God damn well, that was the greatest day of my life.’
“Holmgren turns around, and he goes, ‘Hey, Grube,’ Calls me Gruber. ‘Hey, Gruber, come down here.’ I sit next to him. He goes, ‘Game ball, hell of a job.’
“I turned around and walked back to my seat. I see Andy Reid, and I go, ‘Game ball!’,” Gruden shared while gesturing as if gloating in front of Reid.
“I love competing, but when we competed against each other, and he was in Philly, I was in Oakland or Kansas City, I mean, I just used to love seeing him.”
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Fans caught wind of Gruden’s waltz down memory lane and it’s fair to say they were loving the insight.
“Such a great story teller….. I felt like I was on the plane with them,” one fan posted on X.
“This is so great to listen to,” a second wrote.
“Incredible story,” Kevin O’Conner, NBA analyst, added.
Gruden has not coached in the NFL since his departure from the Raiders in 2021.
He was in his second stint with the team and in the fourth year of a reported $100 million contract when he resigned after it was reported that he wrote emails over a decade ago that reportedly had discriminatory language in them.
More recently, it was announced Gruden had joined Barstool Sports on a multi-year deal.
Barstool is a sports and pop culture blog covering the latest news and viral highlights, founded and owned by social media personality Dave Portnoy.