Eagles' Image Bothered Lurie
If the news of Joe Banner stepping down as Eagles team president had broken a year ago, I would be on the floor receiving CPR right now, unable to type this.
Eagles' Image Bothered Lurie
Les Bowen
If the news of Joe Banner stepping down as Eagles team president had broken a year ago, I would be on the floor receiving CPR right now, unable to type this.
For a long time I thought of Joe as Jeffrey Lurie's surrogate, his summer camp buddy from childhood whose business and sports savvy made it possible for Lurie to own and operate a pro team. Lurie hasn't been a constantly vocal presence during the decade I've covered the team. Usually, when he did speak, it seemed to me Jeffrey's perceptions were filtered through Joe, that in essence, Joe was Jeffrey, on a day-to-day basis.
But remember that searing, anguished postmortem Lurie delivered on the 2011 season, the one in which it seemed like Lurie was building a case for firing Andy Reid, before he pulled back? That was not the sort of address Banner would have delivered. Joe has always conceded very little to critics. He is the guy who pointed out last offseason that even though the Steelers had won a bunch of Super Bowls, at that point the Eagles actually had more consistently made the playoffs over the previous decade.
What I heard whispered in the wake of that speech was that Lurie's disquiet was not limited to Reid, that the chairman was genuinely at his wits' end over the Eagles' sour image in Philadelphia, the inability to connect with the fan on the street. That image has two parts -- Reid's stolidity, and Banner's sneer. In the intervening months, the team has tried to present Reid in situations where normal conversation with reporters has been possible, where he might be a bit more relaxed and forthcoming. And Banner has disappeared from the public eye altogether. Sam Farmer from the Los Angeles Times dropped into a notes column a few months back the intriguing news that Reid had demanded more say in personnel, that Banner's power was on the wane. The Eagles issued a statement from Reid explaining that he had always had final say in personnel, which was true on the face of it, but most people around the team felt Banner drove a lot of personnel decisions, especially where the salary cap was involved.
I wrote about this a few weeks ago for SportsWeek, a column entitled "Where's Joe Banner?" Banner was unavailable to speak with me for that, just as he had been out of sight when the team announced LeSean McCoy's new contract that week, but the team public relations apparatus got in touch, concerned about what I was going to write. I was given a company line about a natural evolution of general manager Howie Roseman's role that would make him more of a spokesman, blah, blah, blah. I was told that Joe's situation was essentially unchanged.
This was absolute crap, of course, and I knew it was at the time. At the McCoy signing, agent Drew Rosenhaus kept talking about how different it was doing business with the Birds these days. Rosenhaus described a negotiation done with Reid and Roseman, and spoke of having had an opportunity to "visit with" Banner. Rosenhaus described Reid's heavy involvement as unprecedented.
At the Eagles' Youth Partnership Playground Build last week, I chased Joe around while he conferred with State Sen. Hardy Williams, then attended to urgent business with a paintbrush, too busy to do anything but tell me over his shoulder that his role wasn't changing. When it came time to admit it was, he summoned a representative from the Inquirer to impart the news, which is Banner's longtime custom.
It will be fascinating to see what unfolds. Roseman started out as Banner's protege, but his style is very different. Reid still doesn't have a contract beyond 2013, but remember, it was Banner who said Andy had to win the Super Bowl to get a new deal. Neither Lurie nor Roseman has been quoted on that subject. Wonder if it's still true?
Are the Eagles Andy Reid's, more than ever, this morning, or are they Howie Roseman's? Or were they Jeffrey Lurie's, more than we realized, all along?
I think we'll be writing about all this stuff a lot more for a long time to come.
After many years of Banner's arrogance toward Eagles fans, Lurie NOW wants to soften their image? This may have more to do with money than with changing fan perception. This ownership has always been happier making huge $ than in championships.— Bob1- Just win baby......and all this in-fighting becomes irrelevant .— Joe R.
Bob1, it's ALWAYS about money. Lurie recognizes that taking a backseat to the Phils (in any way) has cost him $$$$. He didn't understand just how rabid and supportive Philadelphia sports could be. Fact is, I didn't either.- I'd have absolutely no problem with Reid moving to the front office. He has a lot of great qualities, but we all must admit that his game-day coaching leaves much to be desired. And worst still, the whole "my-system-doesn't-require-quality-players" thing set us up for years of disappointment.
- Eagles have the worst image of any team in sports...Vick the dog killer convict is the face of the Eagles..no wonder millions of former Eagles fans in Philly and throughout the country will no longer cheer for the Eagles until Vick is gone from the team...Lurie made the dumbest image move in the history of the eagles by bringing Vick the most dispised player in NFL history to the Eagles.— phil500
- so glad banner was gone. im tired of all the "nfc championship and playoff spot" excuses. go win a super bowl or get the F out. i place the blame on banner for most of our crappy personnel decisions the last few years...letting dawk go before we had a chance to counteroffer, trading lito, sheldon and asante a year too late, not being able to sign randy moss after his record breaking season and yet every year, banner gives us some BS speech about how we're 1 step closer and we're perennially playoff contenders.— sdffa13
- I like it! If Reid is going to be held accountable for winning/not winning the Super Bowl this year; he should be given complete control over all player personnel and staff decisions. Don't know much about Howie, but if this years' draft is any indication, he and Andy did a nice job. In fact, could be best draft of Andy's reign. Banner was good; but it's time for him to do his thing in LA.— MrFabulous47
- One down two to go.— sewell guy
- 3 points: 1) Jeff Lurie is still enamored by the soup-to-nuts, attention-to-every football-detail package named Andy Reid. So much so that the last conventional, football-grounded GM was let go in 2009. 2) Jeff Lurie is sooo concerned about his image, that many of us have concluded that it is a concern that trumps his desire to win a championship; 3) Joe Banner is an accountant who contributed greatly to The Philadelphia Eagles' value, and to his employer's wealth. Banner was never a football guy, and that is not a criticism - that's what GM's are for! Unless, of course, your GM is your business operations protege who has no more background in football than you do. What this change means is nothing has changed. Lurie still has all of his chips on Reid to bring a trophy to Philadelphia. I, for one, hope that Lurie will entertain the notion that his bet on Reid needs to be hedged by some safeguards like a credible second football mind and opinion in the organization, and like an acknowledgement that there are better talent evaluators out there than the head coach.— gnarlyscuzz
- Lurie does not care about image...Lurie gave $100 million to Vick who is the most dispised played in the history of the NFL.— phil500
- AMEN, phil500! Agree with your comments about that dog torturer and killer. He should still be in jail.— Pelle31
Comment removed.- Now he's worried about the team's image? He signed a dog killer and still has 600lb monotoned walrus saying the same damn thing week in and week out at post game press conferences. The one way he can repair the team's image is to run both of these losers out of Philly and get a real coach who is willing to call players out if they "F" up on the field!— MikeOct20
- Is there any chance the animal-loving simp trolls who inhabit this board turn their attention to something else for a change?— Jerome99RIP
- Well put. They are tiring fanatics, many of whom are closet racists. — gnarlyscuzz
