Context

Unnamed sources can be tricky. You want to believe the reporter who has put an interesting piece in front of you, but you also have to wonder who they are trusting. Does someone have an agenda? Is this person trying to be honest and just stretching things as we all do when we tell stories? Does this source only know part of the story?

The scathing piece done by Sheil Kapadia, Bo Wulf and Zach Berman drew a lot of praise. There was some pushback by some fans wondering…who were all the unnamed sources and can they be trusted?

Were they fair to Jeff Lurie and Howie Roseman?

Let’s talk about a few things to give this all context. First, no one is saying Lurie and Roseman are idiots. No one is saying the Eagles are the worst organization in the league. The Eagles won the Super Bowl three years ago. They made the playoffs in 2018 and 2019. This isn’t an awful organization.

It is dysfunctional. Highly dysfunctional. And you can argue that winning the Super Bowl made things worse. Lurie and Roseman now feel vindicated that they have the right ideas and that others in the organization should really buy into them.

There needs to be checks and balances between different groups. If you have a building full of sycophants, you’re not going to have much sustained success. You need open dialogue and a genuine exchange of ideas. That means both sides listening and trying to value what is being said.

You can support Lurie and Roseman all you want, but the dysfunction is real. Just look at the known facts.

• Star QB demanding to be traded.
• Super Bowl winning coach fired.
• Coaching staff turnover for four straight seasons (not counting the total change of 2016 or 2021).
• Multiple medical staff changes in the same time.

That isn’t healthy. That isn’t one bad apple. That’s a dysfuctional organization.

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Let’s talk about the writers. Sheil Kapadia is a terrific writer and is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He’s so nice it is almost offensive.

Zach Berman is a terrific writer and is also an incredibly nice guy.

Bo Wulf…is a terrific writer.

These are not “gotcha” journalists. This isn’t Manesh Meta trying to create controversy and build a name for himself. These guys are all outstanding journalists. They would rather be writing easy articles on a 12-win team than having to do a deep dive on how a team went from winning the Super Bowl in 2017 to completely falling apart in 2020. When the Eagles fell apart this year, that forced the guys to do their best Woodward and Bernstein impression. You can write softball pieces on winners. When things go bad, you need answers.

This is not a hatchet job. This was an analytical piece on what is wrong with the Eagles, focusing on the top of the organization.

Sheil went on a podcast and gave some additional thoughts on the piece. Check this out to get a better feel for his thoughts.

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As to the sources, I can tell you this isn’t just a bunch of disgruntled people let go by the organization. Sheil, Zach and Bo don’t work like that.

You can feel free to question the story if you want. You can wonder if it is slanted. It isn’t. If anything, this is a very nuanced piece that was fair to everyone involved.

Am I biased toward Lurie and Roseman? I’ve never met or interacted with Lurie. I used to think he was one of the best owners in the league, but that opinion has gone down in recent years. He’s made plenty of great decisions in the last 27 years and brought us a Super Bowl. Recent years have not brought out the best in him.

Howie and I have a mixed track record. I have a lot of respect for the way he climbed the ladder from intern to GM. And he made some great moves and I’ll forever be grateful for him building the Super Bowl winner. Howie sent me an email after my dad passed away, offering his condolences. That was very nice and not something he had to do. Things haven’t been so smooth in recent years, unfortunately. I’ll leave it at that.

I tend to be positive. That’s my personality. But both men have not performed their duties well in the past few years. If not for playing in the worst division in football, the 2018 and 2019 seasons could look very different. I think we can all look at those years and see the issues building. We thought things would be different in 2020.

They were, but not the way we expected. We saw things completely fall apart, on and off the field. That doesn’t happen overnight.

And it doesn’t happen unless there are issues from the top down.

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