After decades of futility, Andy Reid rewrites his legacy

Until the last second ran off the clock and the 49ers’ last desperate comeback hopes had evaporated, it was hard  to even visualize this.

That’s what happens when you go 20 years without a championship. When you make 14 trips to the playoffs and every one ends with a loss.

And not just losses. But horrible, unthinkable, catastrophic losses. 

Joe Jurevicius for 71 yards. Ricky Manning picking off Donovan three times. Tim Hightower on 4th down. Then onto Kansas City and blowing a 31-10 lead to the Colts in 2013 and a 21-3 lead to the Titans in 2017.

So let's be honest. When it was 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter and Pat Mahomes was struggling and the 49ers were rolling and filled with confidence? 

It was tough to ignore the sense of ... here we go again. 

Another big game, another Andy Reid loss.

That’s what 20 years of postseason futility will do.

No more.

It all ended Sunday. 

The guy who couldn’t win the big one won the biggest one of all.

Andy Reid is a champion. 

And with a historic Super Bowl victory over the 49ers Sunday in Miami, Reid has redefined his place in NFL history.

Big Red is no longer the guy with the most regular-season wins without a championship.  

He’s no longer the guy with the most playoff appearances without a championship.  

He’s no longer the Marty Schottenheimer of his generation.

Reid on Sunday guaranteed that history will judge him in a completely different way than if he never won himself a Lombardi.

Now, instead of being known as the guy who bumbled his way to a record number of playoff losses as a favorite – nine of them with the Eagles and Chiefs – he’s the guy who showed remarkable persistence and determination bouncing back after so many devastating losses until finally climbing to the top of the mountain.

The guy who coached flawlessly Sunday, calmly guiding the Chiefs back from a 10-point deficit with 6 ½ minutes left to a 31-20 win on the greatest stage in sports.

Even if he never won a Super Bowl, Reid was going to be a Hall of Famer. He’ll likely be top-5 in history in both regular-season wins and postseason wins when all is said and done. He’s only 19 wins out of the all-time top-5 regular-season wins and just one away from the top-5 in playoff wins.

But without a Super Bowl

There always would have been that asterisk next to his name: “Best coach to never win a championship.”

You want to be considered one of the best coaches in NFL history? You better win a Super Bowl.

All the regular-season wins in the world? All the assistant coaches you prepared for head coaching jobs? All the quarterbacks you developed?

Nice work. But without a Super Bowl, you just can’t be in that top echelon.

For two decades Reid stood with Jeff Fisher, Marty Schottenheimer and Chuck Knox as one of the winningest coaches in history without a title.

Now he stands alongside Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll and Sean Payton, his peers who’ve won one.

Now he stands alongside John Harbaugh and Doug Pederson, his former assistants who beat him to the Lombardi.

Now he stands alongside the true giants of the game, those who’ve been handed the Lombardi Trophy from the commissioner and raised it high over their head for the whole football world to see.

Landry. Vermeil. Walsh. Gibbs.

The names resonate in a completely different way when there’s a Super Bowl championship attatched.

Add the name Andy Reid to that list.

He’s a champion at last.

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