Why I Will Never Be a Fan of Jeff Lurie
April 7, 2025
I just spent a memorable Saturday night at the Keswick Theater enthralled again by the incredible talents of my former co-host at WIP, Joe Conklin. The night was a tribute to Philadelphia sports, enhanced by the City Rhythm Orchestra and an impressive list of gifted guests.
Joe gave 1,300 attendees who were there to raise funds for the Abington Fire Department one more reason to celebrate the Super-Bowl victory and to ride the roller-coaster of emotion that goes with being a Philadelphia sports fan.
It was a fantastic show. Joe has never been in better form.
Among the members of the Eagles family honored during the two-hour extravaganza were Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and Howie Roseman – all of whom drew explosive cheers from the audience.
Conspicuous by its absence was any mention of the owner of the team, Jeff Lurie. And with good reason. Despite two championships and exemplary charitable work in the neighborhoods, Lurie remains a polarizing figure here.
If you’re keeping score at home, I remain one of his major dissenters. Last week illustrated why I continue to see the owner as a pompous pretender, a pontificator whose words ring hollow regardless of success or failure.
I will never ignore an opportunity to repeat my favorite description of Jeff Lurie: He was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.
Last week Lurie gave his annual state-of-the-team address at the NFL Owners Meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., and – as usual – it was riddled with bluster and contradiction. During my days at WIP, I often demanded to hear from the elusive owner, and then begged for silence right after he started speaking.
For an owner who claims to be in lockstep with the loyal fan base, he talks like no one I have ever met. Then again, I am rarely in the presence of billionaires, whose Ivory Tower is not accessible from where I live.
This time around, Lurie offered a word salad thick in self-congratulation and thin in actual information.
For example, at one point the owner suggested that the 2024 Eagles were a candidate for the best NFL team of all time. His exact words were: “Has there ever been a better NFL team than the 2024 Eagles? I don’t know. . . . We had an incredible roster.”
When a reporter followed up by asking if he thought the 2024 Eagles were among the best teams ever, he replied: “No, no, no. I didn’t say that. What I’m saying is it was a damn good team.”
Duh. They just won the Super Bowl. And no, no, no, you suggested, very clearly, that you thought they were among the best ever. It was you who raised the question, not the media.
This is precisely the problem with Lurie over his three decades as a franchise owner. He surrounds himself with so many sycophants, he never actually gets challenged for all of the nonsense he spouts. The one job requirement for every Lurie employee is to kiss his ass at all times, or else.
Doug Pederson, one of only two head coaches who ever won a Super Bowl with the Eagles, found out what happened when someone pushed back. Pederson was fired, three seasons after the parade. It’s also a pretty safe assumption Lurie’s ex-president Joe Banner got a pink slip a decade ago when he challenged his longtime pal one time too many.
Here’s a sampling of some of the other mindless prattle Lurie offered during his annual address:
- One season after nearly firing head coach Nick Sirianni:
“Everything I had hoped for with Nick, he embodies. Whether it’s connection, intelligence in so many ways – from football intelligence, emotional intelligence, managing of people, hiring of assistant coaches, growth mindset at all times.” In other words, Sirianni is very good at saying yes to the boss.
- On how close Lurie is with his team: “I’m so – I think you
know – really obsessed with the team, the culture, getting to know the players. I take them out to dinner from time to time.” In other words, he gives his players a chance to kiss his ass, too.
- On managing the salary cap: “Our cash-over=cap has been
high, and it’s continuing that way. I only know one way.” The Eagles are $18 million under the salary cap right now, in the bottom half of the NFL. He knows more than one way. The Eagles maxed their cap the season after they won their first Super Bowl in 2017.
- On paying his best performers, including GM Howie
Roseman: “I’m very big on rewarding those that have done a great job. Howie is as good as exists in the NFL. . . . . That’s just the way I like to operate. When you have the right people, continuity is big.” The Eagles just lost seven players on defense, including five starters. Apparently, continuity is not always big.
There were countless other examples in Lurie’s hourlong self-tribute, but I have maxed out my manure cap, so I’ll spare you further annoyance. Let’s just say Lurie’s most prominent skill is bloviating, and especially so when he’s telling everybody how wonderful he is.
Again, don’t misunderstand the point of this evaluation of the owner. He is better than many. Lurie is a godsend compared to a hedge-fund bean counter like Sixers owner Joshua Harris, and a veritable saint next to his predecessor, Norman “Bottom Line” Braman.
Lurie does good in the community, he puts a quality team on the field almost every season and indeed he does care. By all conventional definitions, he is a good owner.
So why criticize him after a Super-Bowl win? Because no one else in Philadelphia will utter a negative syllable about the man after an absurd news conference like the one Lurie held last week at the NFL Owners Meetings.
Calling out dumb things is a birthright of all Philadelphia sports fans, though it is exercised less now than ever before. I embrace the role of critic, in good times and bad. It kept me in business for 33 years on WIP.
And clearly Joe Conklin learned something during his decades on our program. He ignored the owner in his show, despite the fact that Joe does a brilliant Lurie impression.
Joe knows that, even in the best of times, the owner is never going to be the hero of the story. He’s just the guy who was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by the spoils of success, rich enough to buy (with his mom co-signing) his own football team, and sensitive enough to insulate himself from any negative talk.
The best news for all of us is that Lurie won’t be holding a news conference for at least another year.