“‘Whenever you win like this, or have sustained success for
a period of time, it takes a lot of people, a lot of departments and sectors
doing their job, improving and getting better,’ longtime Eagles center Jason
Kelce said before the Super Bowl in 2023.” (p 15)
“‘Be proactive and don’t just do what’s popular, but
sometimes do what you think is right,’ Lurie said. “‘And I think that’s been
the guiding principle really ever since I bought the team…. Stick to your
principles, stick to what correlates with winning, and don’t worry that you’re
at times making short-term unpopular choices. That should be the last thing you
ever think about.’” (p 23)
During the Eagles’ 2024 Super Bowl run, I was filled with a
lot of gratitude about this team, really appreciating their sustained success, especially
when thinking about the operations and decisions for other teams. I also am old
enough to recall some of the years when the Eagles had really good players, but
didn’t experience this same level of success. These years that preceded Jeffrey
Lurie’s ownership have caused considerable frustration in thinking about what
could have been a great run of success. Zach Berman’s new book The Franchise:
Philadelphia Eagles: A Curated History of the Birds takes readers inside
the franchise and looks not only at the players, but also examines other
integral members of the team that, in the words of Jason Kelce, have contributed
to this kind of “sustained success.” This was a great book for any Eagles fan.
I was reading it at the same time as my son, who not only read about some of
the players he currently follows, but also learned more about the Eagles’
earlier great players and periods. It’s amazing to step back and consider how successful
the Eagles have been over the course of the last 25 years. With the exception
of a few down years, the Eagles have made the playoffs with consistency, and
have been in the NFC Championship game almost a 1/3 of the time.
Berman, a Philadelphia sports journalist who has covered the
Eagles, presents a comprehensive resource for the team, starting with portraits
of the executives and moving on to coaches and quarterbacks. I loved reading the
parts about the executives since I think they are often covered the least in
the media. In particular, I loved reading about their philosophies towards not
just football, but how other areas like education, engagement, and leadership
all factor into their football decisions. It made me appreciate the team so
much more, to understand that there are principles that they adhere to in
making decisions about players, the facilities, and even community outreach. As
someone whose kids have participated in Eagles camps and their holiday parties,
I can say that their organization is incredibly forward-thinking and involved
in communities. The Eagles really try to involve everyone in their team, and I
think this was also apparent in many of the hype videos they created during
their playoff run this year.
The other sections of the book focus on coaches and players.
Although there are some repetitive parts of the book where content seemed to be
re-used, I found these sections to be informative and entertaining. Berman
makes the details interesting and adds some analysis to help readers understand
and contextualize the contributions of these key players. I also really enjoyed
that the book features “Icons” like Brian Dawkins, LeSean McCoy, and Fletcher
Cox, as well as “Standouts” like Jeremiah Trotter, Brian Westbrook, and DeSean
Jackson. In addition, there are some great moments recounted with a whole
section on the Super Bowl (2017) and “The Moments” that reviews some of the
best games/plays over the past 25 years.
Zach Berman has done a great job detailing not just the
players and plays that have made the Eagles one of the teams representing the “gold
standard” of the NFL over the past 25 years, but he also includes the coaches
and front office members that helped to develop a philosophy and culture driven
by core values. Furthermore, I loved seeing how this culture and these values
have evolved over the course of Lurie’s ownership and Roseman’s stewardship. I
think this shows how committed the team is to success, and not just chasing
ticket sales or great players. They recognize the value in leadership and team
work. Berman’s writing is clear and informative, and presents a fun narrative
that traces the team’s success through the hiring of Andy Reid all the way to
their recent success with Nick Siriani. Both my son and I loved reading this
book, and he loved learning more about the players and teams from the early 2000s
season that he never got to watch. Berman starts the book by sharing that this
was initially planned to be a book documenting the Super Bowl run from 2022,
which the Eagles lost to the Chiefs on a last minute field goal. Thus, his book
took a different perspective, but I’m really glad that he was able to create
this great reference and interesting narrative about the Eagles success. He
ends the book speculating about a revised edition in 2050, but with the Super
Bowl win this past year, I wonder if there will be a new edition coming out or
whether he will embark on another book that documents the amazing championship
season of 2024. In either case, this book is a winner that documents the
winning ways of one of the elite teams of the NFL. Go Birds!
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