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Andy Reid's fogged-up face shield wins meme game as NFL returns

Everyone who's ever worn eyeglasses with a face mask can relate to the Kansas City Chiefs coach.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read

The National Football League returned Thursday night as the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Houston Texans for perhaps the NFL's oddest season opener ever. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, fan attendance at Arrowhead Stadium was limited to 22 percent of stadium capacity, and fans were supposed to wear masks when not eating and drinking. Coaches and other team personnel near the players' bench were also supposed to don masks, ESPN reported

But leave it to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid to go above and beyond. Reid wore a Chiefs hat with an attached face shield, and the shield fogged up noticeably. Any eyeglasses wearer who's been trying to get used to a face mask in these strange times can relate, but Reid's fuzzy look was displayed for hours on national TV. 

Social media quickly filled up with commentary on Reid's steamy shield. Some attacked Reid for wearing the shield at all. But others found the goofy look a rare bright spot in year without many of those.

"Andy Reid should have stopped by Autozone and got some RainX," said one Twitter user. Tweeted another, "Andy Reid's mask has been the best part of COVID-19."  

Plenty of people envisioned conversations between Reid and his players, especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes. "Wonder if Andy Reid is gonna draw up a play on his mask?" asked one Twitter user.

Some praised Reid's decision to go one step further in protection.

And since the Chiefs dominated the game, with Kansas City winning 34-20, some wondered what the final score might have been under different circumstances. "Could you imagine what this game would look like if Andy Reid could see the field at any point?" wrote one Twitter user.