A flurry of apologies couldn’t stop the stampede of criticism Kansas City sports host Kevin Kietzman was receiving after comments he made about Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and Reid’s family on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, Union Broadcasting suspended Kietzman until further notice.
Kietzman mentioned Reid’s family when discussing negative issues concerning players on the team. It came off to many as if Kietzman was comparing how he raised his kids to how he manages players. And he wasn’t being complimentary.
Reid has endured considerable pain in the past with oldest son, Garrett, passing away in 2012 at age 29 of an overdose, after having struggled with drug addiction for the better part of a decade. Another son, Britt, spent about five months in jail in 2007 and 2008 after pleading guilty to a road-range incident. He has since been on the straight and narrow and has spent the past six seasons as a coach on his father’s Chiefs staff (he also served as a camp coordinator intern for the Eagles in 2009).
Here are Kietzman’s exact words: “Andy Reid does not have a great record of fixing players. He doesn’t. Discipline is not his thing. It did not work out particularly well in his family life, and that needs to be added to this, as we’re talking about the Chiefs. He wasn’t real great at that either. He’s had a lot of things go bad on him, family and players.”
The host took a beating on Twitter once that quote started doing the rounds. And once the backlash flared up, Kietzman was quick to hit social media and explain he’d been misunderstood.
Kietzman also posted an audio apology on Twitter for what he said after going back and listening to his comments.
As well as being a host for the station, Klietzman is Sports Radio 810′s Vice President and Sports Director.
Union Broadcasting President Chad Boeger sent the following statement to Radio Ink, Tuesday evening: “We are aware of the controversial comments made by Kevin Kietzman during yesterday’s broadcast of Between the Lines. We have decided to take the immediate step to take Kevin off the air until further notice as we review this matter. We take Kevin’s comments and those of all on-air staff seriously. Kevin’s comments were clearly not to his or our standards. Please know that we will take necessary appropriate actions. We sincerely apologize to Andy Reid and his family, the Kansas City Chiefs organization, and our loyal listeners and share their concerns.”
The story has gotten national attention from USA Today, The New York Post and Sports Illustrated among many other national publications.
