Chiefs’ Andy Reid quietly has been doing something cool for CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz
Shortly after graduating from college, CBS Sports broadcaster Jim Nantz was hired by a Salt Lake City television station in 1982, the same year that Chiefs coach Andy Reid was working as a BYU graduate assistant.
That’s when the two got to know each other, but they’ve spent a lot more time together in the last eight years.
Nantz is the top play-by-play announcer for CBS and has worked a plethora of Chiefs games since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback. That includes the last six AFC Championship Games, and Reid has gotten the Lamar Hunt Trophy four times.
During a visit to the “What the Football with Suzy Shuster & Amy Trask” podcast, Nantz shared a sweet story about Reid’s generosity.
“I have a young son who loves football. He just can’t get enough of it. He’s 8 years old,” Nantz said. “And Andy always without fail asks about how my son, Jameson, we call him Jameo, is doing. So you saw the picture, he’s on the victory platform. I’ve had now three occasions where, after we finished the interview, that one at the Super Bowl was seen by like 120 million people, or whatever. The interview ends, he turns around., he takes his hat off, he gives it to me and says, ‘Give this to Jameo.’
“My son, upstairs in his bedroom, has three Andy Reid championship hats, two AFC championship hats and one Super Bowl hat. He was at that game in Las Vegas, and it’s a pretty remarkable thing. He takes that hat off and he gives it to me to give to my son.”
Nantz spoke a bit more about working as a sports anchor at KSL-TV in Salt Lake City where he called BYU football games and got to know Reid.
Ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, which was on CBS, Nantz told me it has been “an honor” knowing Reid for more than four decades. Giving away his caps to Nantz’s son is an example of Reid’s kindness.
“That’s who he is. I’ve told Jameo, do not go wear those hats out and lose it,” Nantz said. “And I’ve had him write a note every time to coach Reid just to thank him. I don’t have any expectations he’s ever going to do that again. Doesn’t need to, but it’s just pretty special when you go from being in your 20s, like we both were when we first met, to now there’s a six on the front end of our age and and we’re meeting on a stage, and I’m presenting him a Lombardi Trophy. It’s pretty surreal.”
Here is Nantz talking about Reid.
This story was originally published September 13, 2024 at 9:17 AM.
