Eric Stonestreet shares funny story about dressing as Santa for the Chiefs players

Pete Grathoff
·2 min read
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Chiefs coach Andy Reid has been known to get in the holiday spirit, as he has dressed as Santa Claus in the past.

After the Chiefs beat the Dolphins on Christmas Eve in 2017, Reid changed into his Santa suit before meeting with the media for his postgame news conference.

Remember this?

Two years later, Reid asked Chiefs fan/Emmy Award actor Eric Stonestreet to don the red suit and surprise the players.

Stonestreet shared that story earlier this month while on “The Rich Eisen Show.” Stonestreet said he was called by Reid shortly before the Chiefs’ game against the Bears on Dec. 22, 2019 in Chicago.

“I get snuck into the facility and I’ve never been in coach Reid’s office before and I go in, and there he is at his desk, doing his offensive-minded genius stuff,” Stonestreet recalled. “And he’s like, ‘Sit down on the couch,’ so I sit down on the couch, and he’s like. ‘The Santa suit is hanging in the bathroom. You want some help putting it on?’ I’m like, ‘I got it, coach, I think I can do it.’

“So I go in and start putting everything on and then I’m looking in the mirror putting my beard on and then just through the doorway pops coach Reid. He’s just over my shoulder and it’s just me and coach Reid in this amazing moment in his office where he’s like, ‘Nah, you gotta pull this like right here and let’s cinch this up.’ He’s helping me put my Santa beard on my face. And I’m like, ‘What is my life right now? This is incredible.’”

Stonestreet asked Reid what sort of jokes he had in mind for the players.

It turned into a roast of sorts, the kind of thing you might hear in a locker room, as Stonestreet wished “Merry Christmas to everyone ... except Mitchell Schwartz” and then poked fun at Tyreek Hill and Anthony Sherman, who are both 5-10.

“My little elf Tyreek,” Stonestreet said. “I remember him rolling down the steps laughing because I told Anthony Sherman, then our fullback, I said, ‘Where’s Anthony Sherman? Stand up Anthony.’ And he stood up and I go, ‘No, stand please.’”

Stonestreet also worked out a gag with assistant running backs coach Porter Ellett, who lost his right arm as a child in a freak accident.

Here is Stonestreet talking about visiting the Chiefs players that day.