How the Eagles help redeem black ballplayers

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When it comes to racial slights in sports, real or perceived, no one can rattle them off any faster than African-Americans.

If you doubt this, venture into a black barbershop and mention the time former Indiana University men’s basketball coach Bob Knight pulled out a bullwhip and flipped it, jokingly, at his then team captain, Calbert Cheaney, at a team banquet back in 1992. Despite a loving relationship between the two, black folks from coast-to-coast acted as though Knight had not only pulled Rosa Parks off the bus but threw her under it.

In Washington, mention the 1987 benching of quarterback Doug Williams by Joe Gibbs in favor of Jay Schroeder during the regular season — a season that culminated with the Redskins winning Super Bowl XXII and Williams becoming the first black quarterback to win the game — and any number of African-Americans will tell you that Williams’ benching was racist, ignoring that Gibbs entrusted Williams to start the historical game.

Interestingly, Andy Reid is changing this paradigm.

The coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Reid is developing somewhat of a reputation as the patron saint for wayward black ball players. He is standing there, beckoning to players with checkered pasts to come join his team and be the best that they can be, despite the baggage, some of it enormous, that they may bare.

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Reid’s holy high point in this regard came in 2009, when, shortly after convicted felon Michael Vick was released from Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary after serving almost two years for his role in financing an illegal dog-fighting outfit, Reid was the only coach who would touch Vick and signed him to a two-year deal.

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One year later Kevin Kolb, anointed the starter in Philadelphia the moment Reid shipped Donovan McNabb to the Redskins on Mother’s Day of last year, was knocked senseless in the Eagles’ season-opener against Green Bay. Vick stepped in and played better than he had at any point in his career, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl and putting himself in position to sign a lucrative contract next season.

Seven years ago, Reid again went against the grain when he signed volatile receiver Terrell Owens. Owens was at the height of his powers then, a chiseled 6-2 receiver whose ability to gain separation and blow up the best laid plans of defensive coordinators was only exceeded by his impetuous behavior and a willingness to publicly bash his quarterback .

And now, Reid is at it again.

Vince Young, the third overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, has only himself t blame for not being the starting quarterback in Tennessee today. He went AWOL on the team following a benching by coach Jeff Fisher in 2008. Eventually he returned to the team but not before rumors began circulating that he was considering suicide.

He kicked off 2010 by being captured on a surveillance camera fighting inside a Dallas strip club. And he put the cherry on top of a career spiraling out of control last season when he cursed out Fisher in front of his teammates.

Bad behavior notwithstanding, Reid still saw fit to bestow upon Young a $5 million deal last week to be Vick’s backup. Young, 30-17 as a starter in five seasons with the Titans, has far more experience than Kolb, who has just seven career starts under his belt but still managed to finagle a five-year, $63 million deal with more than $22 million in guarantees from Phoenix.If Young can stay on his best behavior, make a few appearances as the backup – Vick’s reckless play almost assures he’ll get center stage at some point this season – he’ll be in position to vie for a job as a starter somewhere next season.

So what is it about Reid that makes him embrace troubled players, wrap his arms around them and bring out the best in them? For that answer, look no further than his own home.

In Nov., 2007, Montgomery County (Pa.) Judge Steven O’Neal dropped gavel on both of Reid’s early twenty-something sons, sentencing both Britt and Garrett Reid to jail terms similar in length t to the one Vick received.

While living under Reid’s roof in bucolic Villanova, both sons ran afoul of the law in January of that year, revealing a history of family dysfunction. After running a red light and hitting another car, Garrett Reid tested positive for heroin and admitted having used it the day of the accident. Authorities found syringes with heroin and testosterone in his SUV.

“I liked being the rich kid in that area and having my own high-status life,” Reid, told a probation officer in a statement read by the judge. “I could go anywhere in the ‘hood. They all knew who I was. I enjoyed it. I liked being a drug dealer.”

That same day Garrett ran afoul of the law, Britt, also a drug user, pointed a handgun at another driver following a dispute. He pleaded guilty to a number of charges, including carrying a handgun without a license, a felony.

Both sons started experimenting with marijuana and pain killers in high school before spiraling into hardcore addiction. At their dual sentencing, the judge referred to the Reid household as “a family in crisis,” their home “a drug emporium.”

Reid has walked a mile in his players’ shoes. His own private hell, his boys’ descent into a life of drugs and violence, has no doubt left and imprint on his soul. He has been grilled by media about the risks of bringing on players such as Owens, Vick and Young thousands of times, but rest assured that the problems of his own flesh and blood occupied his head much more than those of his players.

By most accounts, Reid’s sons are doing well these days. A religious man, Reid probably knows a thing or two about redemption. He has sought it, probably bedside and on his knees, for his own sons, no doubt. It only makes sense that he doles it out to his players.