You really had us going there for awhile, Jeff Lurie.
When you opened your Tuesday press conference by calling the 2011 Eagles season incredibly, incredibly disappointing, you got our attention.
You said you were angry and frustrated. You called the teams performance early in the season dismal and unfathomable. You said there were times during the teams slide to mediocrity when you wanted to let your emotions show, but I held myself back.
But now you have the microphone, Jeff, so you can let it all out. Go for it.
Tell us how you really feel about your coach, Andy Reid, your general manager Howie Roseman, your team president, Joe Banner, and all the other folks on your payroll who promised so much this season and delivered so little.
Tell us about all the changes you intend to make. Tell about who will be held responsible for the defending NFC East champions falling to 8-8 and missing the postseason. Tell us how next season will be different.
Whats that? I cant hear you, Jeff. Speak up.
NFL
Changes? Uh, well
Thats where Luries outrage faded. Thats where the venting stopped. Thats where the tough-talking owner who minutes earlier said there was no legitimate excuse for this season suddenly went from talking like Clint Eastwood to talking like Stuart Smalley.
After saying how bitterly this season disappointed him, after saying he found large chunks of the season ridiculously unacceptable, Lurie announced that he wasnt changing a thing.
Andy Reid is coming back. Joe Banner and Howie Roseman are coming back. When he was asked about defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, Lurie said Reid would make that call. Otherwise, hey, everything is fine.
If I didnt think next season would be substantially better, Id be up here announcing a coaching change, Lurie said.
So, clearly, the owner believes next season will be better. Why? Well, it just will. Guess we have to take his word for it.
It was a strange press conference. Lurie doesnt talk to the media often, usually once at training camp and then he goes underground. But this was an atypical season. There was so much expectation followed by so much disappointment and outrage that Reids job security became an issue, really, for the first time.
Lurie felt a need to clear the air. He wanted to remove all doubt that Reid was still his coach. It wasnt a great surprise. I think most people assumed Reid was safe especially when the team won four straight games to finish the season. But if the owner hoped to appease the Eagles Nation, well, he didnt.
At the outset, his strategy seemed to be to assure the fans that he felt their pain and shared their frustration. He wanted them to know he wasnt at all happy with what he saw on the field. He wanted the fans to know that when they were upset this season, by golly, he was upset, too.
Thats fine, but it doesnt mean a thing if there is no accountability.
You cant spend the first half of the press conference citing all the ways this team fell short and then spend the last half of the press conference offering what amounted to a testimonial to the man who presided over the collapse. By the end of his talk, Lurie had lionized Reid to a point where I thought he was presenting him for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Lurie talked about Reids track record as a coach, his intangibles, his relationship with the players. He stressed how the players love Reid and fully support him. (Note to Jeff: Players always support the coach. Players hate the idea of change because whenever there is a coaching change, it is usually followed by wholesale player change and thats a scary prospect for a player.)
Lurie disputed the notion that Reid is arrogant. He said Reids curt and dismissive replies to questions at press conferences were his way of protecting his players. Lurie said that is one of the reasons his players love him; he doesnt criticize them in the media. Lurie said Reid is a completely non-arrogant man. He said Reid shows absolutely no arrogance in their conversations. (Note to Jeff: Most people arent arrogant in dealing with their boss. It is called keeping your job.)
Lurie assured everyone that the Eagles' ultimate goal is still to win a Super Bowl. He said it is not true that they are satisfied just to make the playoffs and anyone who says they are is wrong. But then he reminded us that since 2008 only one teamthe Baltimore Ravenshas made more playoff appearances than the Eagles. (But, mind you, the Eagles arent keeping score or anything.)
Talking about the four-game winning streak, Lurie said: We proved we could dominate against teams that werent that competitive. He said to put too much into those victories would be a mistake. Fools gold, he called it.
So does that make the 2011 season The Fools Gold Standard? Yes, if the Eagles really believe these four wins are significant. (And I think they do.)
The biggest question never was asked. That is, why should we believe that after 13 years of coming up short Andy Reid will finally bring a Super Bowl title to Philadelphia next season? What convinced Jeff Lurie that, as he said, If the goal is to win a championship, the best coach is Andy Reid?
That question still hangs in the air.
E-mail Ray Didinger at viewfromthehall@comcast.net