Britt Reid is no longer a Kansas City Chiefs employee as contract expires, source says
READ MORE
The Britt Reid crash
On Feb. 4, Britt Reid, a former Kansas City Chiefs linebackers coach, struck two cars along an entrance ramp to Interstate 435 near the team’s practice facility. The crash injured two children, including 5-year-old Ariel Young, who suffered a traumatic brain injury. According to court documents, Reid allegedly admitted to police at the scene that he had been drinking. He faces a felony charge of driving while intoxicated. Reid’s trial is set to begin April 18.
Expand All
A week after he was the driver in a crash that critically injured a young girl, Britt Reid is no longer a Kansas City Chiefs employee, a source told The Star.
ESPN first reported the news Wednesday night.
Reid, the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, struck two cars with his pickup truck the night of Feb. 4, injuring two young children, one of them a 5-year-old girl who is in critical condition, according to a search warrant application obtained by The Star.
The Chiefs placed Britt Reid on administrative leave earlier this week, but his contract has since expired and not been renewed, ending his employment with the organization, the source said. The Chiefs have not publicly commented on the contract not being renewed. They put out a statement earlier this week that said they are gathering information and assisting local authorities.
“Our focus remains on (the girl) and her family,” the statement read. “We have reached out to the family to offer our support and resources to them during this difficult time, and we will continue to pray for her recovery.’‘
A GoFundMe page for Ariel, the 5-year-old critically injured, said she has not woken up since the collision. The girl had swelling and bleeding in and around her brain.
“She remains in a coma and there are no changes,” the page’s organizer, a relative, wrote Thursday. “I’m hopeful that the next time I update this page it’s with better news.”
According to the fundraising page, the girl’s 4-year-old cousin sustained a broken nose and concussion in the crash.
Britt Reid, 35, coached with the Chiefs for eight seasons, joining the team along with his father in 2013. He spent the past two years as the team’s outside linebackers coach.
Andy Reid said Monday that his son had surgery last week but didn’t elaborate. Britt Reid did not travel with the team to Tampa for the Super Bowl.
“I’ve had a chance to talk to him. Yeah, I have,” Andy Reid said in his season-ending press conference Monday, a day after the Chiefs lost to the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. “My heart goes out to the young lady. I’m also a dad, so I get that, so I have concerns obviously on both sides. Britt did have surgery; he’s doing better now. That little girl, my heart goes out to her.”
On Wednesday, the NFL said it will review the crash under its personal conduct policy.
Two cars were stationed on the side of an entrance ramp along Interstate 435 when a truck hit both of them, the police report said. That truck, a white Dodge Ram Laramie, was driven by Reid, according to the search warrant application. Two kids were in the second vehicle. Both were taken to the hospital, as was Reid.
A police officer said in the application for the search warrant that he could smell “a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from his person.” The officer also wrote that he observed Reid’s eyes were “bloodshot and red.” Reid allegedly admitted to the officer he had “2-3 drinks.”
Kansas City police said an investigation into the crash, which took place near the Chiefs practice facility, could take weeks. Police seized Britt Reid’s cellphone as part of the investigation, court records show.
In 2008, Britt Reid pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of a controlled substance in the Philadelphia area.
The Star’s Anna Spoerre and Glenn E. Rice contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 8:27 PM.
.jpeg)