New Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid has been the subject of some Internet buzz this week. It all started when Reid tweeted a video of himself nailing a 65-yard field goal during Sunday’s training camp practice at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Before we get too excited about this video, let’s remember two things: there was no holder — the ball was stationary on a tee — and no one was rushing. Not exactly a game situation, right?
But then on Tuesday, the team decided to give Reid another chance — but this time, in a more realistic situation. At the end of a special-teams period — after placekicker Harrison Butker had already put in his field-goal reps for the day — the safety lined up in field-goal formation for a 45-yard attempt. Tommy Townsend took the snap and put it down. As rushers came in (well, sort of), Reid took his swing… and…
“It was… not good,” said friend-of-the-site Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest. “Like, really not good.”
“It uhhh… didn’t go as well as last time,” observed Tommy Rezac of St. Joseph radio station KFEQ. “Well short and flutters off to the left. Worth a shot. Team and fans got a kick out of it.”
“Snap was good,” noted the Kansas City Star’s Herbie Teope. “Hold was good. Kick, not so much. Reid’s attempt sailed wiidddddeeee left.”
Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney avoided the temptation for a Bob Uecker “juuuust a bit outside” take. He was more direct.
“Justin Reid booted the worst field goal I’ve ever seen,” he tweeted. “Wide left.”
“Yeah, I blew that one,” Reid admitted to reporters after Thursday’s training camp practice. “They threw me in — straight into the fire. But that’s how it’s going to be.”
“[Reid] is always hanging out at the field goal drill,” revealed special-teams coordinator Dave Toub on Tuesday. “I just wanted to surprise him. Throw him in there, see how he would handle it.”
Toub then paused for a full three seconds.
“I don’t think we’ve found our backup kicker yet,” he deadpanned.
But Reid is more than willing to give it a try.
“Next time,” he said, “I’ll get some swings in advance, to try and get those [bad swings] out of there. But if that ever happens, I’ll be ready for it.”
But in no way does Reid believe he is anywhere close to reality replacing Butker.
“We’ve got an excellent guy who is going to leave his mark — and his legacy — on this franchise. I know there’s a lot of chatter — or whatever — about ‘Kicker 1,’ but Harrison is obviously Kicker 1. Let’s put that to bed right now.
“But if he ever wants [a] play off — [to] take a break — I’ve got his back.”
Reid was alone partially kidding. While he was still with the Houston Texans during the 2021 preseason, Reid stepped in for an entire game (and also played defense) while placekicker Ka’imi Fairbairn was injured. He boomed three kickoffs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and on one of them, got a piece of the tackle on the return.
“I had the time of my life,” said Reid of the experience, via NFL.com. “I’ve been looking forward to this moment for so long. I can’t tell you how excited I was when the coaches said, ‘You’re up this game.’ And I was like, ‘Really, I get one?’ They said, ‘No, you’re up the whole game.’ So I was so excited to be out there. It was a dream come true.”
And he wasn’t making that up, either. As he revealed on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” last month, he started playing soccer — not football.
“I had big plans — when I was young — to go and play in Europe,” he said. “You know, be like Didier Drogba, maybe go play for Chelsea. And then I eventually ended up finding love and passion in football. Around eighth, ninth grade, I made the switch. But I always kept my kicking background; I kicked in high school.”
So now in the NFL, Reid hangs around during special-teams periods in practice — and sometimes gets a shot at his old dream by trying a field goal. Might it happen again with the Chiefs — perhaps in a preseason game?
“That would be so fun,” he smiled. “I was supposed to get one in that game [where] I did the kickoffs. We just didn’t get into position; the coaches wanted to wait until the fourth quarter to let me get a chance. We just didn’t end up getting down there to kick one.
“But hey… second chance!”
As always… hope springs eternal. It’s just that sometimes, it goes wiidddddeeee left.