Britt Reid’s pardon is shocking. Why have Kansas City Chiefs and NFL stayed silent?

It’s hard not to feel very negatively toward the Kansas City Chiefs when considering the various factors that are in play with one of the team’s assistant coaches. Indeed, the fact that the franchise has stayed quiet regarding the terrible actions of a man with apparent substance abuse issues is not good and made all the worse by the fact that he happens to be the son of head coach Andy Reid.

Britt Reid’s pardon is actually appalling

In November of 2022, Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a felony DUI charge. The basis of that charge was an accident that occurred on February 4th, 2021. On that day, the 35-year-old got drunk while working at the team’s facility and then got in his car. As he made his way home, he collided with two cars that were parked on the side of an interstate ramp. As per our report at the time, not only was Reid traveling at a speed 18 mph more than the posted limit of 65 mph, but he was also doing so with a blood alcohol content of .113, which is five points over the legal limit.

Yet, the real problem is that Reid injured six people that day including himself. One of those individuals was 5-year-old Ariel Young who suffered a traumatic brain injury resulting in an 11-day coma. It is understood that Young is facing a future that will involve permanent challenges due to the accident. Now, here’s where things get strange and dark at the same time. Last week, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson commuted Reid’s sentence after just 16 months served. Since doing so, he has conveniently been unavailable to the media. Popham Law Firm’s Tom Porto - Ariel’s attorney - didn’t mix words when speaking about why he believes that is. “It’s because the Governor of Missouri is a Chiefs fan, went to the Super Bowl, went to the after parties, went to the parade and the rally and even has a Chiefs tattoo,” he said. Porto also went on to speak about his young client’s condition. “Ariel is dealing with the effects of her injuries to this day and there is an understanding of the lifelong deficits she is facing,” he said.

To be clear, the only communication regarding Reid’s pardon to date, was a statement from Parson’s office which indicated that he had completed an “alcohol abuse treatment program” while in prison. Aside from that, the only other details we have are the fact that the Chiefs and Ariel’s family reached a private settlement last year, and Reid’s commutation letter, which reads in part that he “served more prison time [16 months] than most individuals convicted of similar offenses.” Where Ariel is concerned, she is now 8 years old, has balance issues, vision impairment, and requires special needs classes.

So, why was Britt Reid pardoned?

If it wasn’t abundantly clear, the answer can perhaps best be found in the words of Ariel’s mother, Felicia Miller, who was frank in her statement. “It seems the laws don’t apply equally to the haves and have-nots. The haves get favors. The have-nots serve their sentence.” Miller’s bleak view of the scenario is only further supported by the fact, that Britt Reid himself never offered an apology for his actions until he was sentenced in a courtroom almost two years later.

Yet, the most disturbing part of this is the knowledge that this isn’t the first time Reid has been here. Not only has he been in rehab before, but he’s also had another DUI and a drug possession charge. Where jail time is concerned, he previously served five months of a 23-month sentence for brandishing a gun in an act of road rage in Pennsylvania. Again, a serious offense met with a lenient punishment. Truthfully, there is no way to deny the idea that Britt Reid has not faced the consequences that he should, for a series of actions that were it anyone else, would result in significant time behind bars. This brings us back to Parson and his pardon. Can it really be that Missouri’s governor cut a favor for the assistant coach of his favorite football team? While we can’t prove that, it certainly looks that way and that’s disgusting. The implications of that are myriad and they start with both the NFL and Chiefs.

The NFL & the Chiefs should be held accountable

At this point, it’s worth noting that Britt Reid’s offense and subsequent pardon have created a discussion on both sides of the political divide, and for a change, voices are in unison. Jean Peters Baker, a Democratic prosecutor in Jackson County (Missouri) made it clear that she believes Governor Parson did a favor for a man of “status, privilege, and connections.” Jay Ashcroft, a Republican Secretary of State, stated that it was “not a good look.” Porto himself acknowledged the backlash saying “There is bipartisan support for this being complete [expletive],” Porto said. “Everybody in the country feels this way.”

So, what about the Chiefs and the league itself? Where the franchise is concerned, the only thing the public has ever been told is that it would “review” what occurred at its facility that day. There has been no further update since, nor has there been any response to a request for information. To that end, we can only speculate as to how Britt Reid managed to get drunk on the job and then almost kill five people, while simultaneously assuming that nobody else knew in a building that is full of security and surveillance. Also do recall, that this is an individual who has a history of alcohol abuse and documented behavioral problems.

As for the NFL, let’s be clear: It offends reason to believe, that an organization that is known for taking swift and severe action where player/personnel offenses are concerned, would somehow fail to do so in a case where the result of the individual’s actions was so horrific. To date, the league has at no point commented on the scenario. Not even the automated “we’re aware of the situation” line that we are normally fed. With this in mind, what else can be said? We’ve got an alcohol-abusing assistant coach who destroyed a future. Said coach works for a franchise - likely because of nepotism - that has brought a lot of success to both the state in which it plays, and the league that showcases it. The state let him off the hook, while the league has looked the other way, making it easy for the franchise itself to do the same. Finally, at the center of it all, we’ve got an innocent little girl who will pay for the rest of her life, which brings us back to that simple question: Why has the man responsible for what happened to her barely paid at all?