by Amy McGarry
As a young child, on a Sunday afternoon in the fall, I would be playing in my room and I’d hear the loudest, awful, swearing coming from the living room. I thought, “We just got home from church. How can he be taking the Lord’s name in vain like that?” He, my dad, would be watching football of course.
The only time my dad commandeered the family TV was for the nightly news and football games. With only one TV in the house, as per the norm in those days, I never got to watch my Monday evening shows in the fall. I adored my dad, and sometimes I’d play in the same room as he was watching football. But I had no interest in the game.
That all changed in my late 20s when I was temporarily living with my sister Marcia and her family in Tacoma. She had three teenage boys at the time, who all played on their high school football team. The boys attended a small, private school, and if I remember correctly, they were all starters on the team at some point.
I began attending their football games, and lo and behold, I enjoyed watching! I started learning the rules and even the science behind the game. But mostly I just felt so proud of my nephews and what they could do on the field.
I spent a lot of time with those boys as they were growing up and each one of them was dear to my heart. I was especially close to the youngest, Corey. Unlike his older brothers, he inherited the McGarry genes, making him short and stocky. He played center. His height, or lack thereof, was the bane of his existence. His dream of playing professional football was dashed every teenage year he didn’t get taller.
Corey’s really really smart. Like, engineer smart. Like Ivy League smart. But Corey wanted to play football. No matter how talented you are, if you are only 5’7”and a slow runner, it’s tough to even get on a college team. Corey chose to go to college at Willamette in Oregon where he could play football. I was living in Spokane when Willamette’s football team came to play Whitworth, so my parents and I got to watch Corey play one college game, which was exciting for me, but you can imagine how my parents felt.
Speaking of my parents, my mom, may she rest in peace, was full of clever aphorisms. One of her most repeated ones was, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” My mom was a wise one.
Corey got a job out of college as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. His dad’s cousin is Andy Reid. If you are not a football fan that name means nothing to you. Even though I had seen his family Christmas picture countless times on my sister’s refrigerator, I didn’t know about Andy Reid. But football fans know Andy Reid.
In 2012, Reid took the head coaching job with the Kansas City Chiefs and brought Corey with him. Patrick Mahomes was drafted with the Chiefs in 2017. If you’re a football fan, the rest is history. If you’re not a football fan, and are still reading this, here’s what happened: With Mahomes as quarterback, the Chiefs won lots of games and started getting a lot of attention. All of a sudden, thanks to Mahomes and his “unorthodox” playing style, “record-setting statistical dominance,” and his ability to make “seemingly impossible plays,” football became even more exciting for me to watch.
Coach Corey with Auntie Amy.
For one, there was the crazy chemistry between Mahomes and the young, handsome Travis Kelce, which led to unbelievable pass receptions and more records. In the early days, there was the speed of “The Cheetah,” Tyreek Hill, and the stellar defense of “The Honey Badger,” Tyran Mathieu.
Those early Mahomes days my daughter would run up from her room, especially if she’s not aware I’m watching football, and ask, “What happened? Are you okay?”
“Touchdown Chiefs!” I would respond, as she’d roll her eyes, shake her head, and walk away.
In July of 2019, Corey came out to visit family here in Washington. Almost the first thing out of my mouth when I saw him was, “When can we see a game?” I was sort of joking, because I didn’t know if that was something he could help with.
He looked a little surprised, but smiled big and said, “Anytime! Just check the home game schedule and let us know when you want to come visit Kansas City.”
I immediately went online and found a game in October, booked a flight for my family, and waited for the big day. As I had never been to an NFL game, let alone on a coach’s ticket, I had no idea what to expect and lacked the common sense to ask. No worries. I like surprises. And what a surprise it would be.
After we landed in Kansas City, we met Corey at the training complex. He walked out to meet us, spread his arms wide open and said, “Welcome to Chiefs Kingdom!” He proceeded to give us a tour of the complex, starting with his office. He even showed us the spreadsheet he was working on where he documents plays from video. Apparently, that’s what an assistant offensive line coach does. Who knew?
Game day was an insane whirlwind that I hardly remember. There may have been some pre-game tailgating involved. Thank goodness for the photos, not only to remind me, but for the proof.
I do remember we had to wear lanyards holding our VIP passes around our necks. I didn’t know we’d have VIP passes! I remember going straight down to the field while the Chiefs were warming up and standing on the same turf, just yards away from Patrick Mahomes. I remember thinking I might be bad luck because the Chiefs lost that game and they almost never lost those days.
If you’re not a football fan and are still reading this, KC went on to make the playoffs every season, 2018 through 2024, and went to the Super Bowl five times. While Mahomes got most of the credit for this success, I knew the truth. The Chief’s success was due to the intelligence and diligence of the offensive line assistant coach, Corey Matthaei.
It’s with a heavy heart that I write this, because this season marks the end of the Chiefs playoff streak. The Chiefs are out of the running for the first time since 2018. There’s talk of Kelce’s retirement. It might be the end of an era. I know that some of you readers are cheering this news. I get it. I even get how some of you, even some of my family members, don’t like Patrick Mahomes and like Travis Kelce even less. Even I got tired of hearing how much fun my sister had at all those Super Bowls and how she just happened to be riding the same elevator as Patrick Mahomes and talked to him. I admit, I was jealous that Corey and his family met Taylor Swift after the Super Bowl. She called it. Haters gonna hate, hate, hate.
Speaking of, my husband insists that it’s Taylor Swift who is bad luck, not me. In his mind, the Chiefs started going downhill when Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift started dating and proceeded to get worse after they got engaged. I’m not sure where he gets this expertise. He doesn’t even watch football, only futball (soccer). I think it says more about his feelings towards marriage in general. For me, I blame it on Mahomes having three kids. Which probably says more about my feelings towards having kids in general. Most importantly, the downfall has nothing to do with offensive line coaching. Anyway, I’m just gonna…shake it off.
As my wise mother used to always say, “Every dog has its day.” What a day it was, what a run! I don’t know what the future brings, but if this is the end of an era, thank you for the memories, Corey. I’m proud of you!
Now, Go Seahawks!
Amy McGarry grew up in Spokane Valley, Washington. After a 20 year hiatus, she moved back to Spokane Valley where she lives with her husband, daughter and two cats. She is the author of I am Farang: Adventures of a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand, available on Amazon.com.