Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Apparently, Andy Reid and ESPN reporter Sal Paolantonio have a beef, and no, we’re not talking about Philly cheese steaks.
Either that, or as Deadspins’ Timothy Burke put it, the two are in together on some kind of joke.
If that was the case, unfortunately, it was a joke without a punchline.
Burke described the scene, which unfolded on ESPN as Paolantonio tried to interview Reid in regard to his postgame thoughts:
"Reid did not seem very happy, though, when talking to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio after the game.Maybe this is all a big joke between the two men, but even if it was it made for bad television. Reid went out of his way to avoid talking to Paolantonio, and the presence of NFL Network’s Alex Flanagan at the end makes us wonder if he stepped across that contracted line of first interview privilege. Either way, it’s weird and uncomfortable."
Watching the video myself, I do concur that overall, it was extremely awkward and yes, uncomfortable.
Reid certainly seemed like he didn’t want to talk to ESPN’s reporter, and even when he did answer some questions, Reid “jokingly” told the guy in front of him to keep walking because “This guys not that important right here”.
When answering a question regarding a big play from Alex Smith, Reid responded with, “That was huge, that was a big one.”
“That was as big as Sal Paolantonio, baby”, the coach said with a strange grin on his face.
Perhaps he’s talking about ego here, because Paolantoni isn’t big by any standards, or maybe it was all just a joke.
I guess we’ll never know what happened here between the two, but it certainly seemed like Reid was feeling back at home in the city of no love lost, er I mean, “brotherly love”.