Banner revisits 'insanity' comment
As Eagles general manager Howie Roseman met with reporters at the combine in Indianapolis, team president Joe Banner did one more radio interview yesterday and tried to clarify some of the comments he made last week.
Banner revisits 'insanity' comment
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
As Eagles general manager Howie Roseman met with reporters at the combine in Indianapolis, team president Joe Banner did one more radio interview yesterday and tried to clarify some of the comments he made last week.
In a previous interview on WIP with Howard Eskin and Ike Reese, Banner made comments that compared the Eagles' success to that of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Yesterday, on 97.5 The Fanatic with Mike Missanelli, Banner was much more guarded. Several times, he prefaced comments by saying that his words would probably be misinterpreted. And when Missanelli began the interview by asking Banner about the Steelers comments, the Eagles' president was ready. He said he had last week's comments in front of him because he was expecting the question and wanted to point out exactly what he said the first time.
"I do not believe it is fair to characterize what I said as saying that I believe our success is equal," Banner said. "I mean, I don't know how [I] can say I would trade our success for theirs, I would trade our playoff appearances for their Super Bowl appearances, and then have somebody walk away from that quote and claim that you were trying to equate the two organizations. It's clear. I said they were better. It's also clear that I wasn't comfortable making it sound as if we had had no achievements that we had a right to feel good about."
Banner also talked about a variety of other topics, offering answers to questions about Andy Reid's dealings with the media, the Birds' spending and the insanity comment he made a couple years ago.
Here's a rundown:
THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY
After the Eagles lost to the Cardinals in the NFC championship back in 2009, Banner said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Many took the comment to mean changes were coming with Donovan McNabb and Reid.
McNabb stayed another year but then was traded. Reid has stuck around. So does Banner stand by his comments two years later?
"Since I made that statement, there's almost not a single thing other than the head coach that's the same," Banner said. "We've got a different quarterback. We've got almost a completely different roster. We've got a different training staff. We've got a different weight-lifting staff. We have almost a dramatically different coaching staff, other than the head coach.
"I feel like I made a statement that I honored, that I lived up to, that was true. People want us to be open. I mean I tipped people off - we're about to make a lot of major changes. Not in five minutes, it happened over a couple of seasons."
Banner continued to list the other changes the Eagles have made, but maintained that Reid still gives them the best chance to win a Super Bowl.
"If something is working well, but not as well as you want, you have to make sure you're changing the things that are accounting for the failure to be as successful as you want to be, and not changing the things that are actually accounting for the degree of success you're having," Banner said later.
ANDY'S DEALINGS WITH THE MEDIA
I thought one of Banner's most interesting answers came when Missanelli asked him why the Eagles were such a secretive organization, and specifically, why Reid never says anything meaningful when addressing the media.
Banner defended Reid, but acknowledged that it was a valid criticism and something that could be handled differently.
"I'm not here to tell you, and I don't believe we don't make any mistakes and that we can't do anything better," Banner said. "And I think what you just said is a fair criticism. You gotta keep in mind Andy's focus is anything he can do to win as many games as possible. His own judgment about how to deal with the media in a way that serves that goal, I understand, can be frustrating to the media and the fans. And I think that's a legitimate criticism, but the motivation is to do the best we can in terms of winning games."
Banner went on to explain that comments Reid makes - such as when he said McNabb would be the starting quarterback and when he said Sean McDermott would remain the defensive coordinator - are always intended to put the Eagles in a position to win.
AND THE REST...
Do the Eagles only care about making money and not winning a Super Bowl?
Banner said the goal has always been to win the Super Bowl. He referenced trading for Terrell Owens, signing Jevon Kearse, trading for Jason Peters, signing Leonard Weaver and making dramatic changes to the coaching staff this offseason.
The numbers say coaches usually win a Super Bowl within five years. Why is Reid different?
Banner said most other coaches haven't gotten as close as Andy on a consistent basis, or won as many games as he has. Reid's demonstrated enough to Banner and others that they believe he can win a Super Bowl here, even though he hasn't done so yet.
Has Reid lost any power?
Banner said he has not and that Reid has as much power as ever. But he also added that Reid's always solicited input from the people around him. He said Reid wouldn't stay here if the Eagles gave him authority and then tried to take it away.
Will his first order of business be to re-work DeSean Jackson's deal once the CBA is resolved?
Banner made a Drew Rosenhaus joke and then gave a general answer about making the team better once they were able to.
At one point, he referenced last year's Flyers, saying some thought they had the most talented team in the end, but they didn't win the Stanley Cup.
He also referenced John Fox's resume with the Panthers, pointing out that Fox hadn't been nearly as successful as Reid but still stuck around for nine seasons.
When asked about Reid's personnel decisions, Banner made an analogy to a .345 hitter, saying Missanelli was focusing on the misses, but pointing out that Reid's track record was still good.
On Juan Castillo, Banner conceded that there was nothing he could say to convince people that he was the right choice and adding that it was a prove-it-to-me situation.
And finally, in case you missed it, I provided a breakdown Thursday of Michael Vick and if he held on to the ball too much last season.
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Who the hell keeps putting a microphone in front of this clown? Every two days somebody else has an "Exclusive interview with Joe Banner." The guy is a loser. Football season is over. Time to move on. Flyers have the second best record in the league, tops in the Eastern. The Phillies have the best rotation since the 90's Braves, and possibly ever. And the Sixers are on the verge of hitting .500 after a disastrous first month of the season. But we get a daily column of Joe Banner explaining his answers from yesterday's interview. I'm looking forward to when he is Puerto Rican Panaroma explaining his answers from the Al Alberts show.— AreaMan- I still don't understand why Banner gets the heat and you guys just give Jeff Lurie a pass. Banner and Reid are a known quantity at this point, potential went out of the window several years ago. So the guy calling the shots should be held responsible for not firing Banner and Reid.— XanderCrews
- I heard both interviews; Eskin / Reese a week ago or so and Missy Mike yesterday. Banner is an outright LIAR! How he can say to Missy Mike that he never compared the Eagles favorably with the Steelers when it is an outright LIE amazes me. Joe, go listen to yourself on Eskin / Reese, YOU weren't baited into anything; you eagerly launched into your diatribe favorably comparing the Eagles and Steelers. I'm not convinced this is the problem with this organization; they would rather LIE than just admit any mistake whatsoever! I would love for eagles.com to post transcripts of the Eskin interview and the Missanelli interview so people could see in black and white the dishonesty that permeates everything this organization puts out.— JBinPA
- Oh but didn't he know that revisiting the notion of insanity expecting the dolts to react differently IS the definition of insanity, and therefore needn't be revisited? Over half of the people on here who whine incessantly (look it up) cried after the SuperBowl loss I just know it. "whaahaa, whhhhyyyyyy? - it's so unfair I can't take it... boo-hoo..."— Murrayman
- The Eagles are in the same class as the Steelers in my mind. It all comes down to how many weeks of football is your team playing. The Eagles always are in the playoffs and usually last up until the conference finals. The Eagles lost to the Super Bowl champions on the last play of the game and its not to far to say that if Akers had made one of his three missed feild goals we could have won that game. We're not the Redskins, the Jag's or the Texans. we're the Eagles and they know what they are doing. Who really cares if they win a Super Bowl? I guess the extra week of football would be cool but its not everything. Just look at the Giants. 2007 champs. How many playoff appearances since then?— BentLogic
- Love - the Lord-of-no rings...— M60tanker
- Bentlogic, you are right. The Eagles are not the Giants on the Redskins. Both the Giants and the Redskins have won 3 Super Bowls. The Eagles are still stuck at none.— AreaMan
- Bentlogic, you are right. The Eagles are not the Giants or
the Redskins. Both the Giants and the Redskins have won 3 Super Bowls. The Eagles are still stuck at none.— AreaMan - murrayman, I suggest you listen to the interview again. Banner brought up the Steelers, not eskin. He said the Eagles were better because they made the playoffs four of the last five year and the Steelers didn't. No, the Steelers just won two of the last six SBs and were in a third. I believe Eagle fans would die to have a record like that. As for the Birds selling out games, so what? The Phillies have sold out over 120 straight games and will continue that this year. 45,000 seats for 81 games=3 million 600 thousand fans, not even counting playoffs. They sold 70K tickets in one day last week, enough to fill Lincoln Field. Why? Because they try to give their fans a winner, not just get to the playoffs and hope they catch a break that might get them to the division title game. You can't say Halladay and Lee are bargain basement stuff, like Reid tries to win with. Larry Bowa turned that team around and got them winning, but it wasn't enoughj. Like Charlie or not, he got them to the top. Reid won't. Insanity.— mike l
- Insanity is not running the ball and controlling the clock, and fielding 260 lb D-linemen year after year after year after year after year after year after year after...— landt
- "Reid still gives them the best chance to win a Super Bowl" compared to Bernie Lomax ...MAYBE. It's all subterfuge from the eagle camp, people need to wake up...the only thing that matters is winning the Super Bowl and the eagles have not done it under 12 years of Reid's tenure...AND they are no closer today then when he took over 12 years ago (he actually inherited a very good D)...time for him to go!
— keepitreal1234 - This clearly shows what is wrong with the Eagles. Other teams have a class organization with executives who know the game and build the team without drawing attention to themsel;ves. The Eagles have an owner who knows nothing about the game, a president whoi acts more like Groucho Marx than a foot expert, a general manager who does nothing and a coach who has been failing every year for 12 years and keeping his job because of goofy front office.
Give me Pittsburgh's classy front office anytime.
We have an owner who knows nothing about— marioP 
Insanity: Stockpiling undersized pass rushers.— ej610- And you wonder why the Eagles don't like to talk to the media. Now we'll have every word micro analyzed to see what banner "reallY" means instead of what he said.— ej610
Glad I am out of range of philly sports radio. The way I read these comments if they answer a question they are lying and if they don't they aren't fan friendly. Haven't heard how they can answer a question that will satisfy everyone so I don't know why they bother. Are they supposed to reveal their plans so all the other teams know who they are after in FA for example? If they don't tell are they lying? Why do the fans think they are entitled to know everything to begin with? Like I said, I'm out of range so maybe it's just the way the info is presented that angers everyone but it seems much ado about nothing.— tpizza
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