Between Taylor Swift's performances and the Kansas City Chiefs' comeback, the story of the Super Bowl was that disturbing scene in which Travis Kelce yelled and even pushed his coach Andy Reid to the sidelines. The star player was visibly dissatisfied with not being on the pitch and the images of his crisis particularly surprised his former teammate Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
“I thought, 'Phew, I hope they win because if they don't, we're going to be hearing a lot more about them'.” said the Quebecer on Monday to hello hello.
“You need discipline on a team,” the former Chiefs color bearer added. You need a coach to set the “pace”, there is a certain hierarchy that is established because you need to have trust in your coach to call the right plays.
“As a player you have to make the most of your potential.”
Although both Reid and Kelce defused the situation after the triumph in Kansas City, the former coaches interviewed here by Le Journal all agreed with LDT. Here's what they had to say:
Memories of an argument with his guardian
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In his many years in hockey, Michel Bergeron has never experienced a situation like this behind the bench. Furthermore, Le Tigre claims he would have “reacted badly” if this had happened to him.
“Reid responded well,” Bergie said. He thought about the game […]. These are things that are not nice to look at, it was inappropriate. A little more and Reid would fall.”
But the sequence reminded him of a big argument with his former goalkeeper from the Nordiques era, Daniel Bouchard. “But it happened on the bus, not in front of millions of people. We were playing the Islanders in New York and I had Clint Malarchuk's goal rather than him.
“He was talking loudly on the bus and I asked him to keep it quieter. He stood up and we were pretty much at eye level. The players intervened, but it almost came to blows. After that we were fine, except that an event like this leaves its mark.”
Philippe Boucher surprises with physical contact
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As a coach and player, Philippe Boucher has experienced both sides of the coin. Although he says something like this happens behind closed doors, he was still surprised to see such a scene in such an important game.
And what also shaped the former defender was the “physical contact”.
“You don’t see that often. On the other hand, I think Andy Reid had the best reaction he could have by staying calm. In such an important game you can't let that influence you and you can see that he is an experienced coach. He ended up laughing about it.”
“A win solves a lot of things.”
With a veteran in Pittsburgh
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Michel Therrien acknowledges that, like all coaches in his career, he has experienced arguments with his players. Including one with a Penguins veteran, whom he did not name, who was in the playoffs and who showed up at his office frustrated that he didn't play.
But they were never physical confrontations, said the Canadian's former coach on JiC's broadcast. “If it had happened in this case, I would have eaten a tobacco varnish!” he exclaimed.
“I had a lot of respect for Kelce, I liked what he brought to the table. But that's not happening, he also regretted. I think Reid was exceptional and I hope Kelce's entourage talks to him and then he apologizes.
“I am convinced that if it had happened in the second game of the season it would not have happened in the same way. In my opinion we wouldn’t have seen him again during the game.”