Just hours before the Kansas City Chiefs look to secure their second straight Super Bowl, defensive coach Britt Reid was involved in a multi-car pileup leaving two children with injuries, with one described as "life threatening".
Reid, 35, the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, is now not expected to travel with the team on Saturday to Super Bowl LV in Florida, where they face Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers after an incident which is understood to have occurred on Thursday evening.
According to a police report from the Kansas City Missouri Police Department (KCPD), the accident happened after a car ran out of gas on Interstate 435. The occupant of the car is understood to have called a relative for assistance and a second car subsequently arrived and parked at the on-ramp close to the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium.
The police report then detailed how a third car, which local news stations said was driven by Britt Reid, then struck both of the parked cars.
A five-year-old child in the second car suffered serious injuries, while a four-year-old was also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The police report said that officers on the scene determined that Reid's eyes were bloodshot and that there was an "a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages" coming from him.
It also indicated that Reid told police he had "two or three" drinks and had also consumed prescription Adderall.
So a player gets a DUI and automatically gets released no questions asked. This guy almost kills a family+ and they need to gather more information. Sounds about white.
As a father of a young child, these stories destroy me. What can we do to ensure these kinds of things happen less ? How can we convince people that drinking and driving is a bad choice? I’m really asking because I don’t know the solution or is there one ?
"The organization has been made aware of a multi-vehicle accident involving Outside Linebackers Coach Britt Reid," a statement from the Chiefs organization read.
"We are in the process of gathering information and we will have no further comment at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved."
Reid, meanwhile, has also been admitted to hospital and is expected to be there for several days, according to ESPN.
He has come to the attention of police in the past. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to brandishing a gun towards another motorist and was sentenced to between eight and 23 months in prison.
The following year he admitted to drug charges and a DUI after he drove into a shopping trolley in a car park after initially being unable to locate his car after leaving a shop.
Reid joined the Chiefs upon the appointment of his father as head coach in 2013 and moved up through the ranks by coaching different positional groups. He is currently in charge of the team's outside linebacker corps.
The incident is hardly ideal preparation for Sunday's NFL showcase game in Tampa: not only are the team down one of their coaches, but Andy Reid must now prepare for the game amid speculation of potential criminal charges for his son.
