Jeff Lurie almost bought the Pats instead?

[DisgruntledTunaFan]

Got this off the Giants MB, interesting...

Met someone with a "connection" to Eagles

Don't worry, not an asshat story with any real "inside info" - just a fun story I thought I'd share with a few tidbits.

So the other day, I met a girl (friend of a friend) who was really into sports, which of course is awesome. As she's listing all her favorite sports teams, she tells me she is an Eagles fan because of a family connection. I then tell her I don't think we can ever be friends. She then says... "well... it's just that the owner of the team is my Godfather".

Jeff Lurie is her freakin Godfather... apparently her dad was bff's with him in college and such. Family money, Lurie is loaded - but apparently her father had no idea Lurie's family was rich for the longest time when they were in school together until he went to Jeff's house and saw how insane it was. (If I was super rich, I probably wouldn't let anyone know for a while either)

One thing I found interesting is Lurie is from Boston and he had Robert Kraft are apparently good friends. They both wanted to buy the Patriots back in the day when the team was available. Lurie didn't want to bid against his friend seeing how Kraft apparently had many ties to charities and was a fixture in the community... so Lurie bowed out and bought the Eagles instead, as they had also come available around the same time. Interestingly, Lurie's parents didn't want him to buy an NFL team because they thought it would be a bad investment. Heh, guess he turned out to be right.

I finished it up by telling her I hated the Eagles with all my heart, but respected the hell out of their franchise - let's face it, they have been competitive for a long time and seem pretty well run overall.


As an aside, this proves that I can actually listen to, and remember, what women are talking to me about in a bar.

 

[VJCPatriot]

So is she single? I think that guys who want to hook up with rich chicks, want to know. LOL.

 

[upstater1]

I know someone who knows the guy's daughter well.

That being said, everyone was aware that Lurie, Kraft and Fireman were competing for the Patriots back then.

 

[jmt57]

Winning Is Their Business

Kraft and Lurie go way back, to when both were Pats season ticket holders. And both did indeed bid on buying the Pats from Orthwein.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Yeah, as I recall there were several bidders at the time and while I can't say I remember Laurie's name, the story makes sense. Kraft had the inside track with the Land and Stadium already in his grasp, as is well known.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Funny part about Lurie preferring Mirer to Bledsoe and passing on the Pats b/c it didn't make financial sense..............

Jeffrey Lurie - 04.18.94 - SI Vault

 

[TrueBeliever]

A friend of mine is an Eagles fan and I think he told me something like this once, but I can't remember right now. I'll e-mail him and ask him about it.

 

[TrueBeliever]

Yep, my friend (who grew up in eastern PA) says that when Lurie bought the Eagles the fans there were afraid he was going to move the team to L.A. because his parents are bigwigs in Hollywood. So it's a good bet if Lurie had his first choice the Patriots may have been the only AFC East team on the west coast.

(*I'm presuming then that in the early '90s it was already being rumored that either the Rams or the Raiders were planning on leaving Los Angeles.)

 

[zoostation]

yep....Lurie was pissed when he lost out the bidding to robert Kaft. But Kraft had the inside advantage as he owned the old stadium.