When I was in my first year covering the #Eagles, I wanted to do a story on Reid’s menu of offensive plays. So I waited until a Monday after a win to ask.
He had just done his presser and I sprung the idea on him.
“What do you need?” he said.
1/5
I took a gamble and asked if I could have one of his old cards.
“No,” he answered, “but follow me.”
Reid took me up to his office on the 2d floor of the NovaCare, walked me behind his desk and opened a large drawer full of files. He pulled one out, handed me a play card.
2/5
“There you go,” he said.
It was the card from the Eagles’ win over Dallas a few weeks prior.
“Can I have this?” I asked.
“No,” Reid said.
“Can I take a picture?”
“No. But look at it, remember as much as you can, and you use it without giving away the play calls.”
3/5
“How can I write about the play card if I can’t write about the calls?” I asked.
“Use your imagination,” Reid said.
As I left, PR guy Derek Boyko was shocked Reid had shown me as much.
“He’s never done that. I think he’s delirious from sleep deprivation,” Boyko said.
4/5
I ended up getting a pretty good story out of it.
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find it on the Internet, so maybe I shouldn’t have told this tale.
Will see if The Inquirer can fix that.
5/5
Hat tip to @MikeGarafolo, who’s better at searching the Internet than me:
Some have asked me to respond to today’s Carson Wentz story.
I don’t typically comment on other reporter’s stories on the #Eagles beat and won’t here.
But I will offer some reporting I’ve done on Wentz’s personality the last year, which I hope accurately captured his nature ...
From April: Will Carson Wentz alter his aggressive style as he returns from knee surgery? Frank Reich, who had his battles with the #Eagles QB, and others weigh in: philly.com/philly/sports/…
From Sept: “Carson Wentz’s Comeback. The long, arduous road for the Type-A #Eagles QB who had to surrender his will to outside forces: philly.com/philly/sports/…