Philadelphia Eagles urban legends starring Shady, Howie, Jeffrey Lurie

Welcome to urban legends 101, Philadelphia Eagles style.

You’ve heard of urban legends, right? Often, they’re both humorous and troubling, but the basis of a good urban legend is this. We’ve heard them so often that we believe that there has to be some truth to them. If you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan, they seemingly come around every few weeks.

Here’s one that you may have heard once or twice, It’s an old one though. Remember that trade by Chip Kelly that sent LeSean McCoy packing? How many of you heard that it was that trade that also sent Kelly packing in 2015?

Here’s a story for you if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Picture this for a second. It’s Week 14 of the 2015 NFL season, and the Birds are hosting the Buffalo Bills. It’s Shady’s return to Lincoln Finacial Field, and as always, Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie is watching from the press box.

Then it happened. According to a myth where no one can identify the origin (another key component of a good urban legend), one of Mr. Lurie’s former employees and all-time favorite Eagles during his run as the owner (McCoy) jukes the guy Chip Kelly traded him for (Kiko Alonso), and as urban legend states, that was the day Lurie knew that Kelly had to go. He was fired less than three weeks later, right before Philly played the New York Giants in the finale.

If you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan, this won’t improve your stance on Howie.

Hearing all that has probably made you ask yourself a question. If that Shady and Kiko Alonso thing aggravated Mr. Lurie, how do you think he must feel whenever he sees D.K. Metcalf haul in ten catches for 177 yards over a cornerback he’s paying a ton of money to?

How must he feel when Justin Jefferson has another spectacular game? How must he feel when Nelson Agholor plays well for the Las Vegas Raiders? What do you think he feels whenever he looks at JJ Arcega-Whiteside?

It’s no secret that Eagles vice president and general manager Howie Roseman’s scouting practices and ability to evaluate talent have been called into question, and though it’s wrong to kick a man when he’s down, it must happen here. Recently, PFF ranked the highest-graded second-year wide receivers. Take a look.

Do you know who you see there? D.K. Metcalf! Do you know who you don’t see? JJ Arcega-Whiteside? Does anyone want to bet the over-under on how many times that Mr. Lurie has gotten sick while looking at Justin Jefferson and D.K. Metcalf shine? Does anyone believe that he isn’t stewing over the fact that he’s getting nothing out of his second-round selection, Jalen Hurts?

Recent tales have told us that there was a directive given by the boss, and it was this. If Carson Wentz continues to struggle, Hurts needs to play. There’s no evidence that conversation ever happened, but it’s sure coming up a lot. There you go. There’s something to mull over as you trade urban legends over a campfire with your friends.

Until then, remember a few things. You love the Eagles, but you don’t love them more than Jeffrey Lurie does. He’s their biggest fan, and he doesn’t like losing. If Howie Roseman is still the G.M. heading into the 2021 offseason, there are quite a few Birds fans and several members of the media who are going to be very surprised.