NBC Sports writer roasted by Chiefs fans explains Andy Reid retirement reporting

There is no way to pinpoint this exactly, but one of the first examples of NBC Sports’ Mike Florio getting under the skin of Chiefs fans came ahead of Super Bowl LIV.

Florio publicly suggested the 49ers should risk a personal-foul penalty by delivering a big hit on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“If you can hit him, even if it’s close to the sideline, even if he’s maybe started into his slide, when the championship is riding on it, I think it’s a different analysis,” Florio said in 2020. “And yeah, we may give up 15 yards or half the distance to the goal line.”

Ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, which again saw the Chiefs face the 49ers, Florio reported Kansas City was preparing for the possibility that coach Andy Reid might retire.

Reid deflected that talk in Las Vegas ahead of the Super Bowl, and Chiefs fans poked fun at Florio. That included Fox Sports’ Nick Wright.

The Chiefs on Monday announced that Reid had signed a contract extension, and fans trolled Florio after the news broke.

Florio on Tuesday reiterated his claim that the Chiefs were preparing for life without Reid. Florio also mentioned how he had heard from Kansas City fans.

“Along the way, the Chiefs were indeed preparing for the possibility that Reid would retire after the 2023 season,” Florio wrote. “The fact that he didn’t doesn’t change the fact that the Chiefs were preparing for the possibility. (Even though plenty of Chiefs fans believe that, by not retiring, Reid absolutely never considered it and the Chiefs absolutely never anticipated the possibility.)

“Here’s where I’ll pull back the curtain, a little bit, on how the sausage gets stuffed. If/when I’m barking up the wrong tree on something, I’ll inevitably hear about it — from someone with the team, someone associated with the person (if not the person himself), or an intermediary who has been assigned the task of setting me straight. Not once did I hear a peep from the Chiefs or Reid or anyone connected to them that the Chiefs weren’t or shouldn’t be preparing for the possibility that Reid would retire.”

Chiefs fans and a former player once again took Florio to task.

A fan wrote on Reddit: “I have a billion dollars in my bank account. No one from my bank has reached out to tell me that I don’t so, therefore, it must be true.”

Another wrote: “Every good organization has a contingency plan for if their coach leaves. Especially if that coach is in the 60’s and could retire. Having a plan is just good practice, it does not indicate any foresight beyond being prepared. So of course he won’t be wrong to say ‘they’re preparing’ but nobody in the Chiefs seriously thinks he’ll be gone.”