Andy Reid’s COVID-19 Face Shield Will Be Enshrined In Pro Football Hall Of Fame
Feb 27, 2021, 6:01 PM | Updated: 6:02 pm
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 20: Head coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs wears a face shield as he looks on from the sideline against the Los Angeles Chargers during the third quarter at SoFi Stadium on September 20, 2020 in Inglewood, California. Many NFL coaches are wearing face-mask and face coverings due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The latest addition to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, courtesy of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, will forever embody the 2020 football season.
New to arrive at the Hall: the game-worn hat and face shield of @Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. He wore both of these items much of the 2020 season as a part of the @NFL's COVID-19 protocols.
More on these items: https://t.co/eoPrNNLMWP#ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/zdy1tNGRF7
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) February 22, 2021
Reid’s face shield that he wore to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus is headed to Canton. It’s fitting that in a season played amidst a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, gets an item that represents that unique and unprecedented season.
Here was the press release from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
New to arrive in Canton and to be put on display in the Hall’s Pro Football Today Gallery are the game-worn hat and face shield of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. He wore both of these items much of the 2020 season as a part of the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
“In Week 9 (Nov. 8, 2020), the Chiefs defeated the Carolina Panthers 33-31. The victory was the 230th of Reid’s career. He surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Curly Lambeau for most wins in NFL history, moving into fifth place.”
A former BYU offensive lineman and graduate assistant in the early 1980s, Reid has become one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. Reid, worn the shield early in the Chiefs 2020 season, before switching to a cloth mask that he wore on the sideline of the Chiefs Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccanneers.
One can only hope that we don’t see anymore face shields and masks in the 2021 season and beyond. But to highlight a strange and unusual season, Reid’s shield is worthy of enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. A place that Reid, himself, will eventually hear his name called after his coaching days are over.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.
