THEY’RE CALLING for a man’s job here in Philadelphia, and chances are they’re going to get it.

Eagles head coach Andy Reid long has been the subject of fans’ frustration over his perceived arrogance and failure to bring a Super Bowl to town. “Fire Andy” is not a novel chant at the Linc this season.

But now, amidst a six-game losing streak, catastrophic mismanagement of his coaching staff, mediocre drafting, awful personnel decisions, and continued in-game gaffes, the Eagles’ failures are real, not imagined, and Reid’s fingerprints are smeared all over them.

And so the “Fire Andy” drumbeat has been taken up by the local media. The storyline now is “when,” not “if.”

We are at Reid’s past-due date, so it’s definitely time for Jeffrey Lurie to have the “the organization has decided to go in a different direction” talk with him. And when it’s announced, there will be much rejoicing.

But let’s remember something here: This is a man’s job we’re talking about. His livelihood. This is how he feeds his family, pays for his house, buys the clothes on his back. Unless there is evil or serious criminality involved, we shouldn’t applaud its loss, no matter how deserved professionally.

Earlier this year Andy Reid buried a son who had overdosed on heroin. Another, an addict like his brother, is undoubtedly a source of constant worry, a sick concern over whether he, too, may fall prey to the demons. Say what you will about Reid’s football failings, but don’t forget that an actual human being–a wounded father and husband–stands behind the impassive face that infuriates so many fans on a weekly basis.

And remember that when his firing is announced, whether early next week or early next year. | DL