Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Michael Vick, his son Britt and now Matt Araiza: Andy Reid is quick to offer second chances… but with his Chiefs looking for a threepeat, has leniency always been the best policy?

It may have been the afterglow of the Chiefs’ third NFL title in five years, but Kansas City coach Andy Reid was quick to dismiss the shocking sideline eruption directed at him by Travis Kelce during their Super Bowl LVIII victory.

Kelce had been subbed out for a single play in the first half when Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco surrendered a costly fumble, which was recovered by the San Francisco 49ers. Visibly enraged, Kelce confronted the coach known as ‘Big Red’ and inadvertently collided with the 65-year-old, sending him stumbling backwards.

‘There’s nobody I get better than I get him,’ the famously forgiving Reid said of Kelce after winning his second Super Bowl in as many seasons. ‘He’s a competitive kid. He loves to play. He makes me feel young. But my balance is terrible.’

For a sport populated by disciplinarian coaches, Kelce’s outburst was a clear code violation – something that warranted an actual punishment rather than Reid’s self-deprecating humor. Instead, Reid was happy to brush it aside, as he’s done with so many other perceived transgressions.

Just this week, Reid added embattled former San Diego State punter Matt Araiza two months after the ex-Buffalo Bills draft pick was dropped from a sexual assault lawsuit that briefly derailed his NFL career. Araiza was never charged with a crime and is no longer being sued over the alleged 2021 rape of a 17-year-old girl, but his addition in Kansas City is already being scrutinized by fans and reporters alike.

Adding Araiza isn’t a major financial risk. The punter signed a reported minimum deal, which is around $750,000, and the contract is unguaranteed, meaning the Chiefs can cut him without consequence.

But there are reputational risks for an NFL coach who has been derided for adding players and staff accused of everything from domestic violence to dog fighting.

Kelce is, perhaps, the best example of Reid’s compassion.

By overlooking Kelce’s failed marijuana test in 2010, which resulted in his suspension at the University of Cincinnati, Reid and the Chiefs got a third-round steal in the former Bearcats tight end.

Three Super Bowl wins later, Kelce ranks fourth among NFL tight ends in career receptions with 907, fourth in receiving yards with 11,328, and sixth with 74 touchdown catches.

But Kelce’s Hall-of-Fame level of play was hardly preordained. When he arrived in Kansas City before Reid’s first year with the team in 2013, Taylor Swift’s current boyfriend was known as a bit of wild child desperately in need of some structure.

‘When Travis came to us, he was a little bit of a party guy,’ Chiefs general manager Brett Veach told ESPN in January. ‘Andy showed a lot of patience and tolerance.’

And it was that level of understanding that ultimately helped Kelce turn into an All-Pro, according to Veach.

‘Travis wanted attention,’ Veach continued. ‘He wanted a lot of things. He did things differently than everyone else. Coming here, having to do things a certain way and really organizing and prioritizing his life was a challenge. There were a lot of one-on-one meetings with Coach and a lot of, ‘This is how I want things done.’

‘There were a ton of bumps early on, but Coach’s love and faith for Travis never wavered. He got him through a rough time early on.’

Of course, a years-old positive marijuana test is hardly the scarlet letter – especially in an era when the drug is becoming increasingly legal across the country.

Domestic violence, however, is a much more serious allegation, and it’s one that Reid has forgiven from time to time.

Take Tyreek Hill, the former Chiefs receiver who helped the Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV before being traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2022.

Reid and the Chiefs drafted Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of West Alabama, where the lightening-fast receiver known as ‘Cheetah’ transferred in 2015 after being kicked off the team at Oklahoma State.

At OSU, Hill pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation involving his then-pregnant girlfriend. But after Hill stayed out of trouble at unheralded West Alabama, Reid and the Chiefs felt comfortable giving him a second chance.

Initially, the decision paid off and Hill would earn All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors while becoming one of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ favorite targets.

But while he continued to burn opposing secondaries, Hill found himself in trouble again in 2019, when he was investigated for the alleged battery of his three-year-old son, who suffered a broken arm.