Jeffrey Lurie Thinks Joe Banner May Have Leaked Negative Howie Roseman Stories
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – When it appeared that the Eagles had been turned down by several head coaching candidates, including one that would eventually take the job in Chip Kelly, theories as to why were flying.
One NFL insider, CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, suggested that prospective coaches were being advised against working with Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. "I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me one esteemed coach or another advised one of the Eagles' top candidates not to take the job precisely because of Roseman's presence there," La Canfora wrote.
The reports were denied by Philadelphia Eagles writers, including Comcast Sportsnet's Reuben Frank. "Listen, when you have a hatchet job when you're quoting unnamed sources, you just have to take it with a grain of salt," Frank said on CSN's Daily News Live. "What's the guys agenda? If you're going to do a story like that, at the very, very minimum if you have any professional standards you go to the guy you are ripping and say hey, 'I got a source telling me this, what's your reaction?' Did he even do that?"
La Canfora then defended his report with Angelo Cataldi and The 94WIP Morning Show. "I've been hearing this for a long time," La Canfora said. "This has been coming since before they even decided to part with Andy Reid and you talked to established coaches, and you see what they're advising people. What are younger coaches hearing from older coaches when they ask about; what do you think of this regime, what do you think of Howie Roseman, what do you think of coming in Philadelphia.
Now, it appears that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie believes that former Eagles president, and current CEO of the Cleveland Browns Joe Banner may have been responsible for La Canfora's report.
"And, you know, if there are league sources that are really based in Cleveland, that's not right. We see through it all," Lurie told Frank. "We knew strategically what was going on with league sources and stuff like that," Lurie said. "This was such erroneous reporting it was insane."
Banner denied the charges through a statement. "It is always difficult to comment on a quote that may or may not be accurate or in context. In this case, from the comments which Jeffrey made that were communicated to me, it is necessary for me to make this clear, unambiguous statement. Any implication that I had anything to do with Jason La Canfora's story is completely false, outrageous and borders on being libelous. I had absolutely no conversation with Jason La Canfora. Having demonstrated my character over the last 44 years to Jeffrey and the last 14 to Howie, it is beyond disappointing that they would suggest such a thing. As tempting as it is to go further, other than defending myself, I will continue to take the high road on all such matters as I have since the day I left the Eagles."
