Bill Belichick reflects on his close friendship with Andy Reid

AP/Charles Krupa

Though Bill Belichick and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid have coached against each other many times dating back to the early 2000s, the two have had a long-standing friendship and remain close today.

When asked about Reid, Belichick said he appreciates "everything" about their friendship, and that Reid's teams have handled Belichick's teams well over the years.

ESPN:

"I respect the way he coaches his team. I respect the way they play. They're always tough. We've always had great battles with them," he said. "I can't think of too many teams that have handled us better than the way they handled us in 2014. That was one game, but there have been a lot of great competitive games going back to the '07 game when he was in Philadelphia."

"It's all the things outside of football -- family, personal, things that we have in common, personal likes, dislikes," he said.

On Reid's end, there was no shortage of praise for Belichick.

"We've been doing this a long time, so you get to know each other over the years and you respect each other's work," Reid said. "Nobody does it better than him. We've talked and raised kids at the same time, done all those things at the same time, and come up through it that way. We've just gotten to know each other over the years and I appreciate his friendship and I appreciate what he's done for the National Football League too."

Reid, you may remember, was the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2000-2012, where he coached against Belichick on numerous occasions. Two of those meetings are great footnotes in the Patriots dynasty - Super Bowl XXXIX and Week 12 in 2007. The Patriots narrowly defeated the Eagles both times.

He was also on the sidelines for the infamous Monday night game in 2014 that saw the Patriots get blown out 41-14, prompting questions about Tom Brady's job and the instant classic Belichick quote "we're on to Cincinnati."

Circling back to tomorrow, the Chiefs are looked at as one of the better teams in the AFC and have been anything but a pushover for the Patriots in the last few years. Reid's tough, aggressive style of football will no doubt be a good test for the Pats right out of the gate.

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