Eagles Owner Makes Surprise Decision in A.J. Brown Dispute
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Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and Dom "Big Dom" DiSandro.
While the Philadelphia Eagles are by far the most recognizable part of his business portfolio, it’s not the only thing Jeffrey Lurie has to do.
He’s also an Academy Award winning film producer with the type of business acumen you can’t get from a Harvard MBA — he borrowed $185 million to buy the Eagles in 1994 and the team is now valued at approximately $8 billion.
So, with a net worth of $7.6 billion, when Lurie shows up at practice on a random Thursday in November, it’s worth remembering how valuable his time is. He wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t important.
In this case, the important thing was putting out fires in the locker room of the defending Super Bowl champions at the behest of famed Eagles head of security Dom “Big Dom” DiSandro.
This particular fire was caused by star wide receiver A.J. Brown, who went on social media (again) to vent his frustrations with the Eagles offense, this time describing the season as a “(expletive) show” during a Twitch livestream.
The Eagles are 7-2, winners of 3 consecutive games and have a 3-game lead in the NFC East Division.
“Today at Eagles practice Big Dom got Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and AJ Brown together and it looked like they had a very good conversation about AJ‘s frustration and they all want the offense to be better,” NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark wrote on his official X account on November 13.
Ask yourself — what would you do if someone you were paying $32 million per year constantly complained about their job?
You might want to go have a talk with them.
Lurie’s Family Money Came From Hollywood
Lurie is the heir to a family fortune that began when his grandfather, Philip Smith, founded the General Cinema movie theater chain in 1935, which became one of the largest drive-in movie theater and movie theater chains in the country, and at one point operated over 1,500 screens across the U.S.
Lurie actually failed in two previous attempts to buy NFL franchises when Robert Kraft beat him to buy the New England Patriots, and Stan Kroenke beat him out to buy Los Angeles Rams before finally spending $185 million to buy the Eagles in 1994.
He’s also won 3 Academy Awards for documentaries, including “Inside Job” for Best Documentary Film in 2011 and “Summer of Soul” for Best Documentary Film in 2022.
Eagles Owner No Stranger to Controversy
While common sense tells us Lurie was probably at practice to have a “Come to Jesus” moment with Brown, a 3-time NFL All-Pro, he may have just been there to commiserate on how to make it through various media landmines of your own creation.
As Lurie passionately campaigned to keep the Eagles’ signature Tush Push play legal this summer, he ended up in his own maelstrom due to his comments doing so.
“Lurie (said) regardless of whether the play was banned, it was a ‘win-win’ for the Eagles, adding that it was like a wet dream for a teenage boy’ to create a play that was so successful that the only way for it to be stopped was for it to be banned,” ESPN’s Seth Wickersham wrote on May 21. “ … executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent chastised the Eagles owner for the ‘wet dream’ comment, specifically for saying it in front of women in the meeting.”
Raiders’ Brock Bowers Gets Strong Message From Chip Kelly
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(Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
In the Week 10 loss to the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly faced criticism for not using Brock Bowers enough. The Raiders star had three targets and one reception for 31 receiving yards, so to beat the Dallas Cowboys,
Moreover, in his first game back returning from injury in Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Silver and Black saw how big a menace Bowers can be for the opposing defense. The young tight end recorded 127 receiving yards on 12 receptions while registering three touchdowns.
As a result, it was surprising to see Bowers have little impact in the contest against the Broncos. Ahead of the Week 11 game against the Cowboys, Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly spoke about increasing Bowers’ involvement and avoiding a repeat of what happened in Week 10.
“We have to get him involved; he’s obviously our No. 1 threat out there,” Kelly told reporters on November 14. “We’ve got to continue to get him involved in what we do. In Jacksonville, we did a good job. I did a good job in the Denver game. A lot of those plays that were supposed to go to him, we got sacked on. Part of that was the protection and what Denver could do defensively going
“We knew they had a great pass rush, so we were in a little more maximum protection. Now, sometimes they’re not able to uncover them. That allows them to double them and do other things. Part of their scheme allows them to do that, too. But we’re really conscious of who we have available this week [and] how we have to get the ball to those guys.”
Raiders Will Face New-Look Cowboys Defense
As Kelly figures out a way to get Bowers more involved, he will also have to worry about new additions to the Dallas defense. The Cowboys made a pair of moves to bolster their defense before the NFL trade deadline, bringing in Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets and former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.
With these arrivals, Dallas aim to raise the performance level of its defensive unit. Ahead of “Monday Night Football,” Raiders quarterback Geno Smith shared his thoughts on facing the Cowboys’ revamped defense.
“I mean, you start with what the Cowboys do in their scheme,” Smith told reporters on November 13 when talking about facing the new faces on the Dallas defense. “They’ve got a lot of other players that we’ve got to make sure that we have an eye out for.
“But yeah, Logan Wilson, they just acquired Quinnen Williams, a guy who I’ve played against a bunch and a great defensive tackle in this league. He’s been a perennial All-Pro, perennial Pro Bowler.
“For those guys, of course, I’m going to watch the Cowboys, but I’m also going to go back and watch what they’ve done in the past and just try to see how they can fit into the scheme. Again, we’ll have to see on game day what it is, but I think we have a good idea of what they’ll be in.”
Ashton Jeanty Looks to Make an Impact Against the Cowboys
Alongside Smith and Bowers, Ashton Jeanty will also be aiming to exploit the opportunities presented by the Dallas defense.
“Yeah, [the Cowboys] got some great players,” Jeanty said on November 11. “They just added Quinnen Williams in the interior. So, I’m sure that’ll level up their front. And, just a good all-around team. But, there’s definitely places where we can attack them and make great plays…
“[Williams is] another guy in the interior to be disruptive. I mean, he’s a game wrecker. So, we got to be ready for him. We just prepping kind of for whoever’s going to be out there. Obviously, they’ve made some changes, so we’ll just prepare for that.”
