One of the greatest days in Philadelphia Eagles history happened on May 6, 1994, when Jeffrey Lurie bought the team for $195 million.
Since then, it has been an incredible journey of winning for the Eagles fan base with four Super Bowl appearances and two wins. It has been one of the most successful runs in NFL history, but by far the best run in franchise history by a mile.
Life wasn't always this way, though, as there was actually a time in history when the Eagles' franchise wasn't in the best shape. That was because an owner who had the team left a bad mark on them that fans try to forget about.
Before Jeffrey Lurie, there was......Leonard Tose
FanSided's Nick Villano wrote an article on the 10 worst owners in sports history. Unfortunately for Eagles fans, former owner Leonard Tose made the list at number nine.
Most fans in Philly might not remember Tose and the shenanigans he put the Eagles fans through. Allow Villano to explain.
"Can you imagine Philadelphia without the Eagles? Might as well remove cheesesteaks from the city, while you’re at it. Well, that almost became a reality thanks to Leonard Tose's incompetent ownership. A lifelong Eagles fan, Tose saw an opportunity to realize his dream of owning a team he loved.
On paper, it’s exactly what we want as fans. We want one of us to own the team. We want the emotions that come with losses to hurt ownership as much as they do us. This felt like a move the whole city would love. He started as a 1 percent owner of the team in 1949 before that share was bought out in the 1960s. In 1969, he had the opportunity to become the primary owner of the Eagles.
Unfortunately, Tose was a compulsive gambler, and those debts caught up with him. As he faced tens of millions of dollars in debt, he tried a few … interesting options, using the Eagles as bait. He tried to move the Eagles to Phoenix, Arizona, but that failed. Then, he tried to trade franchises with Ralph Wilson, who was the owner of the Buffalo Bills. That also failed, and he was forced to sell the Eagles for $65 million, $25 million of which went straight to Atlantic City casinos."
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The next time Eagles fans want to complain about the team, just remember, it can be a lot worse. On behalf of the fan base, thank you, Jeffrey Lurie, for being the gold standard of being an owner and not being anything like Tose.