Eagles turn stadium into vax site for autism community
Super Bowl or on championship weekend. Six of the seven head coaching vacancies were filled before the championship games in January. All seven were filled before the Super Bowl.
This happened despite Daboll winning the NFL’s assistant coach of the year award, and Bowles and Leftwich being universally lauded for their incredible work in helping Tampa to a title.
Their teams’ successes not only put them at a disadvantage from an availability standpoint. Their interviews and preparation also took time away from preparing
AP their players for playoff games. The Texans’ David Culley, meanwhile, was the only Black head coach hired.
Making the process merit-based and consistent, in theory, should reward the most qualified candidates.
New Jets coach Robert Saleh is in New York now because he ran into a similar issue two seasons ago. His Niners defense was dominant, and he was a red-hot candidate, but San Fran advanced to the Super Bowl and he didn’t get a gig — leaving him available to the Jets one year later.
The Philadelphia Eagles have a new coach, a new starting quarterback and new use for their stadium.
The organization turned Lincoln Financial Field into a COVID-19 vaccination site for members of the autism community. More than 1,000 individuals, their caregivers and families were vaccinated last Saturday.
“We’ve been synonymous with being an advocate for the autism community, so I started receiving phone calls from families to say: ‘I know you don’t do this, but can you help us?”’ Ryan Hammond, the executive director of the Eagles Autism Foundation, said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. “They were stories like: ‘My child hasn’t left the house in over a year because they struggle with social distancing and wearing a mask,’ or ‘we’re eligible for a vaccine but we haven’t been able to go because my child waited in a line for hours at a convention center.’ So while there is different opportunities available for those who are eligible for the vaccine, that accessibility became a real challenge for families. So in just hearing their stories it really motivated me to say — what can we do about this.”
The Eagles partnered with Divine Providence Village, a residential facility outside Philadelphia that serves individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities, to provide the vaccines. Everyone who received a vaccine last week will return to the stadium this month for a second dose.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has a personal connection to autism, so funding its research has been an important initiative for him and the franchise. The team’s foundation has raised more than $10 million in three years.
“Jeffrey Lurie is the real visionary behind this,” Hammond said. “He dreamed to use our platform really to drive critical resources and funding for the autism community, and doing that, recognizing that football in particular is a unifier, knowing that this could be really special . ... Every dollar that we raise is invested in cutting-edge research and programs, so from a philanthropic standpoint you feel really great about investing in a cause that truly is giving back where every dollar is transformational.
“It’s evolved into so much more than a day, which started out with our fundraiser, our Eagles Autism Challenge, bike ride, run, walk. The entire organization there has just become weaved authentically into the fabric of our brand and really it’s about who we are every day.”
CHARGER SALE
Dea Spanos Berberian filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court contending that mounting debt from the franchise is creating an estimated yearly loss of at least $11 million for the family trust.
According to the petition, the trust had debts and expenses of $353 million as of Sept. 30. Nearly half of that ($164,778,931) is due to the trust’s investment in the Chargers. The trust’s stake in the Chargers makes up 83% of its holdings.
“The trust is so heavily concentrated in owning a minority stake in a professional football team that beneficiaries have no choice but to depend almost solely on the rise or fall of the team,” the petition says. “Maintaining the status quo is not an option.”
The filing includes a letter in which Dean Spanos said he would hire an investment bank that would allow any member of the family to sell their stake. Berberian says in the petition that would be too long.
“Every day that passes increases the risks that the charitable beneficiaries and the Spanos family legacy will suffer irreparable financial and reputational damage,” the filing says.
Spanos, Berberian, Alexandra Spanos Ruhl and Michael Spanos each own 15% of the franchise with 36% managed by the family trust and the remaining 4% owned by non-family members. Spanos and Berberian were left as co-trustees of the trust following the deaths of Alex and Faye Spanos in 2018.
Alex Spanos bought the San Diego Chargers in 1984 and Dean Spanos took over managing the franchise in 1994.
Dean Spanos, Michael Spanos and Spanos Ruhl issued a statement saying operations of the team will be unaffected by the court filing and that they intend to contest the motion.
“Our parents, Alex and Faye, wanted the Chargers to be part of the Spanos Family for generations to come. For the three of us the Chargers is one of our family’s most important legacies, just as it was for our parents. Unfortunately, our sister Dea seems to have a different and misguided personal agenda,” the statement said. “If Dea no longer wishes to be part of this family legacy, the three of us stand ready to purchase her share of the franchise, as our agreements give us the right to do.”
Forbes valued the Chargers at $2.6 billion in its recent franchise rankings. The trust’s share could be worth nearly $850 million after Daniel Snyder recently bought the remaining 40.5% of his minority partner’s stake in the Washington Football Team for $875 million.
The franchise’s value is expected to increase after the NFL agreed to a new media rights deal that will bring in more than $10 billion per year beginning in 2023. The Chargers also moved into SoFi Stadium last year and expect revenue to increase once fans are allowed.