June 04, 2020
It’s the world we live in. In 2020 America, people are keeping score.
And that’s why Jeffrey Lurie’s silence was deafening to some. The Eagles’ Twitter account went dark since Friday of last week just as its city and much of the country was reeling in the wake of some protests turning violent after the police-brutality murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Nearly 3.5 million followers were last alerted by congratulations to rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts for being named BIG 12 Male Athlete of the Year for his work at Oklahoma.
Of the five major professional sports teams in town, the Eagles were last to issue a statement and a number of reporters pointed out that those scorebooks were open by Tuesday afternoon.
Coincidence or not, Lurie released his statement shortly thereafter.
Statement from Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman/CEO pic.twitter.com/Qwp7RZ9ofT
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) June 2, 2020
A “progressive” owner in a sea of conservative rich guys, Lurie knows how to play this game. That might sound cynical but it’s the truth.
Lurie’s statement was labeled as “powerful” by many while other organizations who acted quickly were lambasted for not reaching the bar of the online mob. Critiques like 'ignoring the right words' and 'not going far enough' were common.
Most of the scorekeepers were satiated by the Eagles, however. The box, as Los Angeles’ Chargers’ coach Anthony Lynn labeled it, had been checked successfully.
Lynn, one of the few minority coaches in the NFL, is often looked to when it comes to social matters and the league and he did not issue a statement, something he explained to the Los Angeles Times.
“I’m pissed off and I don’t want to just put out a pretty statement,” Lynn told the newspaper.
For what it’s worth, Lurie’s thoughts were as pretty as it gets, at least in the NFL's world, and anything but the boilerplate trite most organizations engage in.
A thoughtful man, Lurie went down a path more of us should embark on, noting it’s better to listen and learn from those who do the work than speed to the microphone stationed above the soapbox.
Whether it’s your favorite deity’s plan or not next time you look in the mirror, take a minute to observe there are two eyes and two ears looking back at you but only the one mouth. Yet, most of us can’t wait to attack the social-media mountain to regurgitate any word vomit we see fit rather than listening and learning from others who may have more to offer.
A lack of education on any particular subject is usually toxic and the foundation of the problem itself.
The denouement of Lurie’s mandatory assignment was nothing more than common sense.
“By working together, the power resides in all of us to choose less hate and more love, with open hearts every day of our lives,” he wrote.
In a micro sense, that’s easy to understand and many have expressed a similar message. The macro remains the problem, however, and why so many can’t see the forest for its towering trees.
Lynn, for instance, doesn’t even know what to do.
“In 1992 I remember watching L.A. burn and here we are in 2020 and I’m watching it again and it just hit me, nothing has changed,” the Chargers' mentor said. “I haven’t done anything to make this a better place for my son. I remember having the talk with him when he was 16 about how to handle police and then at age 30 I called him up and just had the talk with him again because I’m so scared. I want to do something but to be honest with you, I don’t know what that is.”
If a successful 51-year-old African-American man doesn’t know what to do to address systemic racism what chance could Lurie, a one-percenter whose personal success is the enemy to many, possibly have?
While I have more access to Lurie than most, it by no means is meaningful enough to really take his temperature on the NFL’s perception and being tied to that.
As an example, Shad Khan, the Jaguars’ owner, tried to go a step further than Lurie with an op-ed published on his team’s website.
Nearly 900 words from Khan was boiled down to five inside of 10 minutes by a high-profile scorekeeper, former Lurie lieutenant Joe Banner.
He gave trump huge money. https://t.co/3MU9Dazx17
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) June 3, 2020
Down in New Orleans future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees, a man who has done more for that community with his altruism than any politician or elected official ever dreamed, was lambasted for daring to offer an opinion no longer allowed.
Highlight: @readdanwrite asks @drewbrees what the star NFL quarterback thinks about "players kneeling again when the NFL season starts."@drewbrees: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) June 3, 2020
Full exchange: pic.twitter.com/MpCkFyOMed
Imagine judging Brees, a man who has raised over $35 million for various causes through his Brees Dream Foundation, with no skin in the game and absolutely no moral authority save for a weird self-aggrandizing sense of superiority.
That’s where we are on social media. Ignore the resume even though it makes your own look laughable and expect complete conformity to one particular worldview.
The backlash Brees received was quick and decisive enough to force, you guessed it, a statement where the veteran QB walked back his original thought process regarding his own personal belief system.
I asked Drew Brees about reiterating his stance on the anthem (and the backlash over doing so). More to come, but among his responses: "I love and respect my teammates and I stand right there with them in regards to fighting for racial equality and justice. I also stand with... https://t.co/fAxchR69ns
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) June 3, 2020
So maybe the only goal Lurie could have accomplished in the short-term was checking that box and deftly moving his organization aside while others were consumed.
If you can hold on, a welcome distraction is on its way.
The NFL is moving forward with its plan to open training camps in late July, according to a memo from Commissioner Roger Goodell which was sent to all 32 teams earlier this week.
And here’s that memo in full. pic.twitter.com/J9XgqnUD3V
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 2, 2020
“As you know we have been working closely with Dr. [Allen] Sills and outside associates, and with the NFLPA, to develop protocols that will facilitate a safe return to play and practice for the players, coaches, and football personnel when camps open next month,” Goodell said in the memo.
Sills, the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer, has put together a plan that forces all teams to stay home for camp, which affects the nearly one-third of the league that was still using the old-school approach of training away from their facilities, and also banning joint-practices in an effort to limit as many risk factors as possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Eagles, of course, have been staging training camp at the NovaCare Complex since 2013 when Chip Kelly pulled the plug on Lehigh so that part of the equation is nothing new or unsettling for the organization.
In recent years the Eagles have hosted joint practices with teams like New England, Miami and Baltimore in advance of preseason games, and the coaching staff usually finds those types of sessions useful but everyone in the league will be in the same boat, essentially flying blind after the virtual offseason.
John McMullen is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media and also contributes Eagles and NFL coverage for SI.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter: @JFMcMullen
You can listen to John during the week every Monday and Friday on @SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on @SBNationRadio, and daily on your favorite podcast platform for "Extending the Play."
