It was a sad day in Mudville

It's no secret that we're a football family.  We have High School football, NFL Football and Fantasy Football all around us. In the off season, we are fundraising for the Athletic Boosters.

But what you might not know is that I am merely an onlooker. After years of raising girls who have moved out, the boys have now become the vocal point of the household while I shake my head in amusement at how wrapped up on can get in a sport.

What I did not know is that I had become a participant. After countless dinners and Sunday brunches where salaries, staffing and play after play had be discussed I had absorbed some of it - and formed opinions.

Being the wife of a die hard Eagles fan it is not always easy. We have ups and downs. This year was more downs then usual. For the rest of you, it can't be hard to imagine what this day in history is like. After 14 years the NFL's "winningnest" coach, Andy Reid, has been fired… with one year left on his contract.

I did not see myself getting getting caught up in this, I also did not see it coming. Why? Because I look at the NFL from a business perspective. Apparently, so does ‪Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie‬ - the only difference is that he is in the business of winning NOW.

From where I sit Reid had a tremendous record from joining the Eagles in 1999 until this less than stellar year. That has value. Add that to the fact that this year kicked off with a personal devastation of losing his son and that value of 14 years could still be at status quo. maybe. But what really made me feel that we'd see our beloved Andy Reid around for one more year is $15 million. $15 mil is what it would have cost the Eagles to buy out his contract and let him go. Now that has value.

It is possible that in my absorption and interest of the business side of the game I did not realize how little value $15 million might be to Lurie. What is more possible is that as much as he claimed to love and respect his head coach, he valued a winning season far more, at what ever the cost.  He wished him well, he wished him a big win ahead but still he wished him gone. It felt like the end of a marriage.

For me, this Eagles family wife, I wish Andy Reid the dignity of a first wife. He moulded them, shaped them, and at times rode the roller coaster with them. After 14 years, I hope he looks forward to his next chapter as much as I look forward to seeing it.