Howie Roseman has been making the media rounds, and yesterday he called in to talk to Colin Cowherd about his relationship with his former partner in crime. In talking about his time with both Chip and Andy Reid, Howie compared it to his relationship with his wife, which was actually incredible insight:

“I look back and there are certainly things that I could have done a better job with, there’s no question about that. I was with someone for a long time in Andy Reid. Professional and personally, couldn’t been closer and maybe then you take for granted sometimes relationships and how – like with your wife and hopefully she’s not listening right now – you gotta work on them. I learned a lot from it and I learned a lot from Chip, no question about it. Our organization is better because of some of the things he brought here.”

That’s fascinating. He was with Andy for so long, and they got so comfortable together, that when things ended it was hard to move on to someone else. Howie had his rebound guy in Chip, but had to stay with him, all while healing the wounds from his prior relationship. That never works. Both parties need to be all-in on the new relationship. You can’t look into Chip’s eyes and long for your days with Andy. It’s unfair to Chip, unfair to Howie, and unfair to all of your mutual friends (the fans). Now Howie has the clarity of maturing from both of those relationships. He’s grown, and he’s a better man for it. He and Chip may have never been on the same page, but he can look back at his time with him and realize that it helped him grow into the GM he is today. In the rom-com version of this story, one day they’ll run into each other and exchange knowing glances from afar, knowing they’re both better off now but wouldn’t trade their time together for the world. It’s actually kind of beautiful.