Lurie retires No. 20 -- sort of
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Lurie retires No. 20 -- sort of
Bob Brookover
Jeffrey Lurie said this morning that as long as he is the owner of the Eagles that no other player will be issued the No. 20 jersey worn by former safety Brian Dawkins. The only other player he has ever made such a comment about was the late Reggie White, whose No. 92 was retired the same year the defensive end was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The owner also said he remained saddened by the death of Jim Johnson, adding that the defensive coordinator will be inducted into the Eagles' Honor Roll.
"I've already spoken on it ... but it's not something that just goes away," Lurie said. "I think about him and his family every day. I know the team and the organization is gearing up to both honor him and hopefully bring home a championship to really honor him as well."
Lurie spoke on another of other subjects, including coach Andy Reid's contract status, the NFC East in general and the Dallas Cowboys in particular.
"You all ... know how I feel about Andy," Lurie said. "Outstanding in every way. I just see great success for Andy with the Eagles."
Lurie, however, declined to say if there have been any discussions about a contract extension for Reid, whose current deal expires at the end of next season.
"The history of dealing with coaches and Andy, in particular, I've never ever spoken about it," Lurie said. "Even when we've had slow starts, which we often do, everybody wants to talk about is Andy still going to be the coach and blah, blah, blah. I never go there. Everything will happen very privately and that's the way it has always been. I think that's the reason why it has always worked so well."
Lurie said the NFC may be the best it has been since he has owned the Eagles.
"I tend to focus a lot on the quarterbacks and to me the big news in the NFC is we have a division with four quarterbacks capable of winning the Super Bowl," Lurie said. "I think the talent level in the NFC East is the best in football and I think the team that is probably the most underrated is the Dallas Cowboys because they entered last year with by far the most Pro Bowl players.
"Sometimes it takes an extra year to really elevate and reach that. I look back on last year and I see Felix (Jones) and Marion Barber having some injuries. You just see the potential in these teams for dominance. To me, the NFC is pretty loaded and the NFC East is the best in the NFC."
He'd better retire #20. He actually should have never let #20 go in the first place!
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- Is any of this news?— jman
- Jason Campbell really sticks out to Lurie as QB capable of winning the Super Bowl? I mean, I don't dislike Campbell, but I certainly don't think "Super Bowl QB" when I see him play.— rwright611
- rwright - you have to consider that Lurie's focus is on 'promise' and 'potential'. And it's summertime - EVERYbody's a Super Bowl contender this time of year.— raoool
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- The owner isn't going to trash talk other teams, especially in the division. Romo, Manning, and McNabb certainly have the tools to get it done. Campbell and the Redskins in general aren't quite there yet, but aren't terrible either, so throw him/them a bone. Also, retiring numbers is frowned upon by the league, because they are finite. I expect Dawk's number to be unofficially retired until he makes the Hall of Fame. Then maybe you retire it officially.
- sewell guy your a real fan and always positive with your quotes. you are entertaining. laurie was talking about the qb's in the nfc not the nfc east. listen next time rw. lonewolf your sleeping?— JACK V
- Romo and Cambell have never won a playoff game, let alone a superbowl. The division has decent QBs, not stars.— ToughLove
- so then y r u an eagles fan sewell?oh ur a giants fan huh?cowboys maybe?btw panthro,dawkins left.nobody let him go.he chose $ over loyalty,championships,and retiring as an eagle.eagles offered him two years.he wanted five.do u want a 41 year old saftey?they oughta bring him back as secondary coach.— illeagle7700
- sewell guy, NFC Championship game last year ?...typical Eagles fan, only thing that matters is winning the Super Bowl, the team is puke if they don't do that ? Why don't you just wait to see who wins each year and say you root for them ?— nphillyguy
- at least he didn't say anything stupid.....(ala gold standard or pedal to the medal ).....he is such an embarrassment.....now go back to sleep Jeffery....— nuggett
- I am guessing he wanted to say that every QB in the NFC East can win a SB except Campbell... but thought better than to give the Skins some bulletin board material— 93phils
- if Jerome Brown got his number retired, then there is no doubt that Dawkins should have his number retired. Brown only went to 2 pro bowls and only played 5 years before he was killed by his own stupidity in a high speed one car wreck that took the life of his nephew. Dawkins has had much more storied career and was a bedrock of the Eagles defense for the last 10 years.— NitnyLion
- Mommy's money!— psu05
- I'm sure Lurie means well by saying no one else will ever wear Dawkin's #20, but here's what I don't understand: If he has so much respect and admiration for him, why didn't he take a more active role in making sure he remained an Eagle? Word that Dawkins was going to sign with the Broncos was out a few days before it actually happened.— riles1875
- When you think of # 20 in Philadelphia sports who else would you think of besides Brian Dawkins?? Nobody, for once in my life I like what the owner is doing, good move!!— cote32
- Why don't some of you haters start rooting for some other teams that could use your wisdom? Here's a list you might select from: 1)Cleveland Browns 2)Cincinnatti Bengals 3)Detroit Lions 4)Dallas Texans 5)Buffalo Bills 6)Kansas City Chiefs. I'm sure that all or at least some of them would be impelled to go out and play for the championship with a few more folks like you behind them. OK there sewell guy.....and others.— TBear
- "Every QB in the NFC East can win a SB except Campbell." There I said it and I live in Deadskins territory. All the sports talk show guys and most of the Fans here feel that way so no big deal. He's a nice guy but he's not going to get them there. He had "1" 300 yard game and that was against the Lions last year. The majority of the games he had were below 200 yards passing in 2008. They only beat the Birds because they didn't have it together yet. Hey kids I've been watching and rooting for the Iggles since 1960 and then when they started their nearly 15 year Death March with Joe "Must Go" Kuharich. Enjoy winning and making the playoffs and getting into a Super Bowl. Birds have a very good coach who at times goes brain dead. Same with D Mc. Last year they were a bad call away from the Super Bowl. They had a good draft although I was hoping they'd draft another LB (this was before Bradley got hurt - arrgghhh...) and made some good trades and free agent signings. Still looks like a promising year. Philly's teams have all stepped up and been successful this past year - have a good time with it. You could be there in the KC with the Royals/Chiefs or DC with the NATS/Wiz and even the Deadskins. Or worse than that you could be a Mets Fan.— Phillyexp
- That's as it should be. #20 will always be B-Dawk.— kimbafuzz
- rwright: I hear ya, buddy, but on the other hand if scrubs like Dilfer, Brad Johnson and Eli :-) can win the Super Bowl, I suppose Jason Campbell could, too.— derrickh
- Sometimes I thing these boards are just made up of idiots. Lurie said all the right things. Dawk was awesome..but he left for the money. Get over it. And if Lurie had said three teams had SB winning type quarterbacks, you would have ripped him for bulletin board stuff for the Skins. Some of you clowns deserve Daniel Snyder as your owner— mcat13
I'd say over the past week or so 80% of the commenters on just about every Eagle page have essentially been taking too many stupid pills. The other 20% either make a sound point (phillymike77) and/or have some foresight (illeagle7700). Dawkins has potential coach written all over him, but for now all of you others need to let it go. What's so ironic is had he made a mistake if he stayed then all of you would turn on him in a second and say it was a bad signing. When you mix business and athletes, the Eagles make some of the best decisions of any organization, period.- Posted by nphillyguy 02:27 PM, 08/05/2009 sewell guy, NFC Championship game last year ?...typical Eagles fan, only thing that matters is winning the Super Bowl LMAO! Isn't that the only thing that matters to any fans of any sports? You do realize that they don't have parades for winning percentage championships, right?— phillyfan412
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4377824- Rather than commend his statement about no one wearing #20; how about "as long as I own the team" that is the part of the statement that interests me, like he is considering selling the EAGLES.— OnyxG.
- cote32 Didn't the best third baseman to ever play the game wear #20 for the Phils ?— gwite
- is this supposed to make-up for letting dawkins go?— PhilliGuy
- who cares what that jerkoff has to say. he never has been and never will be a philadelphian— ryan11
- who cares what that jerkoff has to say. he never has been and never will be a philadelphian— ryan11
- Reid....outstanding in every way?? Maybe for the owner, but definitely not the fans.— Voytas
- Dawk will come back at some point and sign a one-day contract, just like Randall "Superback" Cunningham did. He will retire an Eagle. It's in his blood and in his heart. And he's in our hearts. I wish Dawk to have an amazing season and hope that the Denver fans give him his due.— CVN65
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