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Banner Wants Next Stop To Be With New NFL Ownership At Struggling Team

Published June 8, 2012

As Eagles adviser Joe Banner leaves his role as team President, he "hopes he can re-create that transformation elsewhere in the NFL," according to Jonathan Tamari of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Banner said, "I love football. I feel like I've learned so much, feel like I've contributed so much, feel like I have a lot to offer. My hope is to be part of a group that's going to buy a team and be in a position to operate it." He said that he "does not have a specific team or area in mind, but is more focused on situation." He would like to "take over a struggling franchise confronting issues similar to those he faced when Jeffrey Lurie bought the Eagles." Banner said, "My personality, my strengths fit better for a turnaround situation. It's very likely that what I do next will involve something that probably isn't going in the right direction ... and to try to get it fixed." Banner said that he "already has heard from some people interested in discussing the idea, but the process probably will take months." He added, "There's a point at which taking on a big challenge and knowing you'll have the energy you need to for long enough to do it, the window starts to pass." He also said that in recent years he has "spent most of his time managing others, rather than being actively involved in operations" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/8).

THE NAME GAME: Philadelphia-based WIP-AM reporter Howard Eskin yesterday tweeted, "Hear Ex #Eagles Pres Joe Banner interested in putting group together to buy Buff Bills. Also hear Cleveland Browns and St Louis may b 4 sale" (TWITTER.com, 6/7). Shortly after his tweet, Eskin appeared on WKRK-FM in Cleveland "to expound on his report." He said, "It's my understanding that the Bills are (Banner's) first priority ... if in fact he can get that money together and do all of those things. Cleveland and St. Louis were secondary in the information that I got." However, Browns VP/Media Relations Neal Gulkis Thursday said, "The Cleveland Browns are not for sale" (CLEVELAND.com, 6/7). ESPN.com's Schefter & Paolantonio noted that when asked if that could include the possible franchise in L.A., Banner said he would be "open to L.A. I don't want to single them out, but that's something I think I can do -- set up a franchise, help build a stadium, hire a coach, hire good people to build a winning organization" (ESPN.com, 6/7).

ONWARD AND UPWARD: CBSSPORTS.com's Clark Judge wrote Banner's departure "is all about one thing: Joe Banner's ambition." He made that "clear Thursday when he said he needed 'something more intense and competitive and challenging' to tackle than what he's doing now." Banner "didn't say as much, but it sounds as if he got bored with his job, referring to it as 'more passive now,' and that can happen when you spend 18 years in the same place" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/7).