Andy Reid Sends Message to Recently Retired Former Chief

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid sent a heartfelt message to one of his former players who recently decided to retire from the NFL.

Dec 12, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs free safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) reacts during the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The news has gone around the NFL world that former Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu has decided to retire from the game of football. Mathieu spent three seasons with the Chiefs franchise and was a crucial member of their Super Bowl LIV-winning team.

Following Thursday's training camp practice, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took the podium to answer every and all questions asked of him. But before he let the questions get underway, Coach Reid had a kind message to send to one of his former players.

"Just a shout out to Tyrann Mathieu for a great career, what a great career he had. The game will miss him, miss his energy, definitely an energy giver, a great leader." Coach Reid told the media. "Hopefully, he gets into coaching because he'd be a heck of a coach if he decides to go that way. He'd be tremendous, but we wish he and his family all the best going forward here."

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo also addressed his thoughts on Mathieu's retirement, truly showcasing what he meant to the Chiefs franchise during his three-year tenure. Mathieu announced his retirement on Instagram one day before the New Orleans Saints, his current team at the time, got their training camp session underway.

Coach Reid was given a follow-up question to his initial message to Mathieu, asking his thoughts on what his legacy would be during his time on the football field.

"He got a Super Bowl championship here, and he was a leader on defense. So I think he'll leave all that behind. If he chose to do that throughout his career, he probably would have set all the records at punt return. So, he was tremendous at that. Anyway, I could go on and on about him. The honey badger, that'll be part of the legacy also. He would sit on the bench there and he'd make all kinds of funny noises."

During Mathieu's three seasons with the Chiefs from 2019 to 2022, he was every bit of what Coach Spagnuolo and Coach Reid described him to be. In 47 regular season games played and started, Mathieu collected 213 combined tackles, 171 solo tackles, had eight tackles for loss, 27 passes defended, and 13 interceptions.

Be sure to follow us on X (Twitter) @KCChiefsOnSI and @Domminchella to never miss another Chiefs news story again.

Click here to let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page. WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.