"Show. Me. The. Money!" was a popular line from the 1996 film Jerry McGuire starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr. In that movie the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team, Jeff Lurie, made a cameo appearance as himself. At that time, he declared his intent to win multiple Super Bowls. Well, he just achieved that. He won his second Super Bowl as owner of an NFL team.
Jeffrey Robert Lurie was born in Boston in 1951. He is an American businessman, documentary film producer, and owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. Lurie's maternal grandfather, Philip Smith, founded the General Cinema movie theater chain, which was one of the largest operators of drive-in movie theaters in the United States. As a film producer himself, Jeff Lurie has three Academy Awards to his credit for three different documentaries he produced. Arguably, an even bigger accomplishment than a few Oscars, is that fact that the Philly Eagles have now won two Super Bowls under his watch as owner.
Lurie actually grew up as a fan of the Boston area sports teams, not Philly teams. He went to many Red Sox games as child and is said to have often put himself to sleep listening to live baseball on his transistor radio. Also, the Lurie family had been season-ticket holders since the New England Patriots franchise began in 1960, the year the American Football League was founded. Jeff was so much of a fan, and had done so well in his business career, that Lurie tried to buy the New England Patriots in 1993. He dropped out of the bidding at $150 million when his uncle would not sign off on the deal. He needed his family's backing to get it done.
Five months later his uncle had softened his stance, and in May 1994 Lurie bought the Philadelphia Eagles for $195 million. Lurie still needed his mother, Nancy Lurie Marks, the only daughter of Philip Smith, to co-sign a loan of $190 million from the Bank of Boston in order to make the purchase. A risky move for the family indeed.
But it was a bet that paid off. Just over a decade later Forbes valued the Eagles franchise at $2.65 billion. In 2018 they won the Super Bowl against the Patriots with players like Nick Foles and Corey Clement. This was their first national victory as a franchise since 1960. The Eagles team value increased exponentially after that 2018 win. By last year the team valuation had increased to $6.6 billion with the Eagles ranked 8th amongst all 32 NFL teams by value.
Then this past weekend, on February 9th, 2025, coach Nick Sirianni, quarterback Jalen Hurts and their fellow Eagles defeated the highly favored Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LIX by the score of 40-22. They denied the Chiefs what would have been an unprecedented three wins in a row. Remarkably, on the day the Chiefs did not score a point in the first two quarters of the game, a real credit to the Eagles defense. Only four Eagles players from the 2018 winning team were in New Orleans this year. The real stalwarts, in a sense, were the owner, Jeff Lurie and his team manager, Howie Roseman. This win will no doubt boost the value of the Eagles franchise again, making Jeff Lurie and his family even wealthier.
But money can't buy everything. No matter how many zeros this victory adds to the franchise, it cannot stop Jeff Lurie from losing his offensive coach to the New Orleans Saints. Right after the Super Bowl victory it was confirmed that Kellen Moore would be moving to New Orleans to take the Saints head coaching position. Moore was the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles during their Super Bowl win this weekend. I am sure he gave up a large offer from Lurie to remain in Philadelphia for next season. So, I don't think he is moving for the money. He has been a quarterback during his playing career and has been an offensive coach at the highest levels, now he understandably wants the head coaching role. And at 36, this makes him the youngest head coach in the NFL.
As a football player, Kellen Moore played as a quarterback in the NFL for six seasons before transitioning into coaching, a role he seemed more naturally suited toward. He was a player for the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys and then a coach with the Cowboys and the LA Chargers. Moore served as the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles for only one season in 2024. During his tenure, the Eagles scored 55 points in the NFC Championship Game, the most by a team in any championship game. Quarterback Jalen Hurts, under Moore's tutelage, won the Super Bowl MVP award and under Moore's guidance, the Eagles averaged 27.2 points per game in the regular season and 36.3 points per game in the postseason. They also set a franchise record with 3,048 rushing yards in 2024. His offensive strategy clearly worked well, and he will be a real asset to the Saints next season.
But it won't be easy going in the Big Easy for Moore. The Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010 with players like Drew Brees, Heath Evans, Devery Henderson, Jeremy Shockey and Jermon Bushrod. Since that win the Saints have struggled. Drew Brees eventually retired and long-time Saints head coach, Sean Payton, also retired a few years ago. So, Moore's offensive expertise is seen as a key factor in revitalizing the team.
But Moore has some real challenges ahead, like fixing the Saints' defense, perhaps an area where he will have to hire another seasoned professional who has expertise that he does not. Defense will have to be a major priority as the team allowed the third-most yards per game last season. Kellen Moore's move to the Saints is a bold step in his coaching career and we wish him well. The New Orleans fans themselves will support him, for the season at least, unlike Philly where you are judged hard on every play of every game.
Another example of money not being able to solve every problem, the Eagles victory is not exactly what the NFL wanted either. The NFL itself clearly wanted the Chiefs to win, if not for anything else but for the Taylor Swift effect. It is impossible to quantify Swift's effect on the league and the surge in interest in the sport generally, but it was large enough for the NFL to be pretty obviously biased towards the Chiefs throughout the season, particularly in the postseason. Besides the insiders, there are many fans in Buffalo that would swear to this bias. Or just ask any referee that knows the game well.
This does not detract from the Philly Eagles victory, as they overcame any bias and won it convincingly. This win is something Philly will be proud of for a long time to come. For a small idea of what this team means to the fans, watch this movie.
