On Saturday, former Eagles, Rams and Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame following a legendary coaching career that spanned six different decades. While we knew coach Vermeil’s speech might go slightly over the allotted eight minute limit, few could have predicted just how many coach wanted to thank for his prodigious career.
One of those individuals was Chiefs coach Andy Reid whom Vermeil referred to on several occasions throughout the 24-minute speech.
“Never in my coaching career have I had a greater respect for anyone else in the profession you’re in than what Andy Reid did for me last night,” Vermeil said, referring in part to Reid’s attendance at the Gold Jacket dinner . “It will always touch me. Thank you Andy and Tammy.”
Andy Reid, who attended Chiefs training camp on Friday, flew to Canton after practice just to be on hand with coach Vermeil at the annual Gold Jacket dinner. The gesture obviously touched Vermeil, who is a bit of an emotional guy as we’ve learned.
Coach Vermeil thanks the Hunt family and Andy Reid
The relationship goes back twenty-plus years , when Reid took over the Eagles in 1999. Coach Vermeil became a confidant of his and later came to visit often.
“He’s phenomenal, a phenomenal mentor too,” Reid said at camp in St. Joseph last week. “A great person.”
In Reid’s letter of support for Vermeil’s induction, he stated that Vermeil “guided me through the challenges of being the head coach in the city of Philadelphia for the first time.”
Vermeil coached the Kansas City Chiefs from 2001-2005 before retiring at the age of 69. Coach still resides in Pennsylvania while also operating a successful winery in Napa Valley called Vermeil Wines. Coach also enjoyed a successful career in Philadelphia, where he took the Eagles to Super Bowl XV in a loss to the Raiders.
Nineteen years later, he led the Rams to their first ever Super Bowl title, a 23-16 edge-of-your-seat victory of the Tennessee Titans.
