Brian Westbrook Takes Issue With Chiefs’ Andy Reid Claiming Edwards-Helaire Is A Better Player
Brian Westbrook wants to make sure everyone knows comments made by Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid about Clyde Edwards-Helaire didn’t sit well with him. Westbrook made an appearance on Fox Sports‘ First Things First earlier this week to talk about those comments. The show posted his comments and the prop he brought with him for the interview on Twitter.
“I get this message on Friday morning that Andy Reid said that this kid that hasn’t played a down in the NFL is better than me already,” Westbrook said on the program. “It took me years to perfect my game, and it took me years to get better at my craft. And this young kid that hasn’t played a down in the NFL is better than me already. It’s baffling.”
Westbrook brought along a trophy he earned for being the 2007 Philadelphia Eagles’ most valuable player to the show as a demonstration of how good he was. The former running back was referring to a report Reid and Chief’s general manager Brett Veach had about Edwards-Helaire shortly before they took him with their first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
During the conversation, Veach reportedly told Reid when the coach looked at film of Edwards-Helaire, he would see a lot of Westbrook in the prospect. After watching film, Reid is said to have replied he thinks the rookie running back was better than Westbrook at this stage of his career.
.@36westbrook brought out his 2007 Eagles Most Valuable Offensive Player trophy to show that Clyde Edwards-Helaire isn't better than him before ever playing a down in the NFL. ? pic.twitter.com/zsZXo3vcHC
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 27, 2020
Other NFL analysts have also compared the two. Some of the comparisons are because Westbrook was similar to the size and build to Edwards-Helaire. Westbrook also had skills that weren’t extremely prevalent when he entered the league. Running backs that could catch the ball the way he did weren’t total unknowns, but they were rare enough to stand out.
Westbrook finished with 6,335 career rushing yards, 41 touchdowns, 442 catches, 3,940 receiving yards and 30 receiving touchdowns over nine seasons. Eight of those were spent with Reid and the Eagles. Those numbers included a career year in 2007 with 1,333 rushing yards, seven touchdowns, and a former Philly franchise record 90 catches, 771 yards, and five touchdowns.
As 247Sports points out, Reid is running a West Coast offense with the Chiefs. The team believes their offense will be a very good fit for Edwards-Helaire. The former LSU back ran for 1,414 yards and caught 55 passes in his final year in college.
Westbrook didn’t say there was no chance Edwards-Helaire would turn into a very good back, one even better than the former Pro-Bowler. What Westbrook did have an issue with was analysts claiming the rookie is better than him before playing a down in the NFL.
