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I know Joe Banner has a softer side. He has spent many hours with seriously ill kids and has been a devoted father struggling to deal with the health problems of his own son.
He is known to us for being the public face of the Eagles, and it was not a pretty one that he showed us. If owner Jeffrey Lurie is the good cop, Banner was his bad cop. Joe seemed to relish the role. Full disclosure is in order here. I co-hosted the Eagles pre- and post-game shows on WIP and then WYSP-FM from the mid-1980s through 2002. When my contract was not renewed in ’03, I was told it was because the Eagles don’t like criticism. Since I never had a problem dealing with coach Andy Reid, and my contact with Lurie was limited to one interview the first year he took control of the team, the others and I concluded it was Banner who forced the issue to get rid of me.
I give credit to Banner for his considerable talent managing the NFL’s complex salary cap. He realized early on the importance of mastering the league-imposed spending cap. Fans blamed Banner through the years for being cheap and for getting rid of popular players such as Brian Dawkins. Fans can afford to be sentimental, organizations cannot. Banner took the public hit for these decisions despite the fact that no personnel decisions could be made without Reid’s imprimatur. For the most part, these cap-imposed personnel decisions made the Eagles one of the winningest teams in pro football during the tenure of Banner and Reid, but it could not win a Super Bowl, and only got to the game once in ’05 during his regime.
Banner also was the guy most responsible for selling the idea of a new football-only stadium for the Eagles. I dissented. I always felt it was more important the Phillies get a new stadium to generate fans. It seemed to me that the Eagles could have continued to prosper in a renovated Veteran Stadium.
During an interview conducted in a tent full of fans before an Eagles game, Banner bristled when I asked him why the football team couldn’t save money by renovating the Vet. He replied it would cost more to renovate the Vet than to build a new stadium, an answer I found disingenuous. There were reasons why Eagles ownership wanted a new stadium of their own, but saving money on building costs wasn’t one of them. A good part of the reason was ego and self-image. A first-class organization needed a new stadium of its own to bolster its image around the league, not to mention increasing the value of the franchise. Under Banner’s reign, the value of the franchise rose to stratospheric heights. Besides, Banner is intensely jealous of the Phillies. If the Phillies were going to get a new stadium, so would the Eagles.
Banner is a legend among the Philadelphia media for his harassing phone calls when he thought the town’s baseball team was getting more coverage than the Eagles. Write what Banner considered a negative story about the organization and you could expect a bitterly complaining phone call from him. More than once he insisted on the Eagles getting preference over the Phillies for back page coverage in the Daily News.
During my time with WYSP’s coverage of the Eagles, Banner was reluctant to appear with us as a guest, aside from the time we debated the need for a new football stadium. He believed that because we were part of the Eagles network, our pre- and post-game coverage should reflect favorably on the team. When he realized our coverage was sometimes critical, he avoided us and limited himself to “friendly” interviews on WIP. He canceled scheduled interviews with us several times without prior warning, throwing the tight format of our pre-game show into chaos. At the time, WYSP was paying the Eagles $6 million in rights fees for the games, but Banner showed us no loyalty, probably because he considered us disloyal in not shilling for the new stadium and the team in general.
There have been conflicting rumors in recent years of a power struggle within the organization. (Reid has gained power. No, he has lost power. Banner’s making personnel decisions. No, Reid has the final say.) After last year’s disastrous season, Reid supporters (mostly former players) floated rumors that the controversial pick of Juan Castillo as defensive coordinator was forced on Reid. Yet, Banner is headed out the door and Castillo is still here.
There will be no such speculation anymore. I believe what we witnessed last week was the sports version of a bloodless coup. I don’t believe Banner left voluntarily because he needed new challenges. Is there any bigger challenge than winning a Super Bowl in Philadelphia? Banner told me once that his goal was to help build an organization that would not only win championships, but remain competitive. He left with that goal unfulfilled.
We won’t have Banner to kick around anymore. It’s all on Andy now. And that’s the way Andy apparently wants it. The only way the Eagles can improve on Banner’s tenure now is to win a Super Bowl. And if they don’t?
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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