News and Events
Philadelphia Eagles Named “Global Sports Team of the Year” and Sponsor MDD Lil’ Swoop!
By Dave Zangaro
Featured on CSNPhilly.com
Philadelphia – December 2011 – It has been a frustrating season of football for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The team is 4-8 and the Super Bowl aspirations they had to start the year have withered away. But on Wednesday, the team received some good news.
The Eagles were named as the global Sports Team of the Year by the international social change organization, Beyond Sport, for their work in the community addressing social issues.
It was the second year the Eagles were a finalist for the award and they beat out teams from 130 different countries.
“This season is unbelievably frustrating and it makes us want to work even harder to make it right and that’s why what we do in the community is just as important as what we do, if not even more in years like this one,” Eagles co-owner, and wife of Jeffrey Lurie, Christina Weiss Lurie said. “We recognize that our fans are really loyal. And yes, they’re frustrated too. But they’re so supportive of what we do, whether it’s through Eagles Youth Partnership or one of our other campaigns.”
The team was nominated for the award based on three of its programs: Eagles Youth Partnership, Tackling Breast Cancer and Go Green .
Eagles Youth Partnership provides eye care, reading support and mentoring programs to over 50,000 kids a year. Tackling Breast Cancer has raised more than $1.6 million for cancer research and care. And Go Green is the alternative energy initiative.
“It’s an unbelievable award, to be voted best team in the world,” Christina Lurie said. “The reality is, it’s a group effort. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of our partners, whether it’s the fans, whether it’s the entire organization, the players, the coaches, the employees.”
One particular story that came to mind for Lurie didn’t deal with one of their three major campaigns. Instead, it was through work with the Marshall Legacy Institute, which works with land-mine sniffing dogs.
After the Eagles signed Michael Vick, they were approached by the group and decided to engage in some philanthropy. The Eagles teamed up with the sixth grade class at John Wister Elementary School to give a mine-sniffing dog, which they named Little Swoop.
In addition to donating Little Swoop to a village in Sri Lanka, the sixth-graders also collected money to buy prosthetics for a kid who lost limbs from a land mine.
One little boy even took a trip to Sri Lanka to visit Little Swoop.
“Those are the kinds of moving stories that make a big difference to us and to the community and this kid’s life has been changed for ever,” Lurie said.
The Eagles were selected by a Beyond Sport judging panel, which is chaired by U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.
“I’m really thankful that we live in a city, in a community that allows for that to happen,” Lurie said. “When Jeffrey and I bought the Eagles, it hit us soon after that we had an incredible platform with the team to help the community and create positive social change.”
E-mail Dave Zangaro at dzangaro@comcastsportsnet.com