Eagles QB Carson Wentz' black No. 11 jersey already is among NFLShop.com's top-selling pieces of men's apparel, a "reflection of the public excitement" in Philadelphia over the rookie and an explanation as to "why the Eagles made the jump" to land the second-overall pick in the NFL Draft, according to Mike Sielski of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie's "glee over Wentz's arrival has shone through in team-issued photos and videos that feature the two of them, and one needs only to understand the NFL's marketing history to recognize that Lurie's coveting a franchise quarterback might be about more than a shot at a Super Bowl." The Eagles have been "up front about their desire to replicate the success they had after selecting" QB Donovan McNabb in '99. McNabb early in his career "wasn't merely a Philadelphia superstar," but a "national one, thrilling people with his ability to run and throw, and presenting a wholesome image by appearing in those cheeky Campbell's Soup commercials with his mother." Lurie, himself a former movie and TV producer, can "appreciate the power of having a compelling and appealing character as the centerpiece of his franchise." The Eagles will sell apparel and sell out home games "no matter who their quarterback is," but an athlete who "penetrates the popular culture, who draws in casual sports fans, lifts his franchise atop that pedestal with him ... makes his team at all times part of the water cooler conversation." The Patriots "were just another team until Tom Brady went under center" in '01. Now Brady is a "walking, talking narrative, winning four Super Bowls, creating instant drama and interest, generating that all-important buzz" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/12).
TOO LEGIT TO QUIT: In Philadelphia, David Murphy writes the "only way to interpret" the hiring of former Bears Dir of Scouting Joe Douglas to head up the Eagles' personnel department is that Lurie "was serious when he said he wanted to build a legitimate personnel department, and that, this time, he would hold [Exec VP/Football Operations] Howie Roseman accountable for the performance of that department." Otherwise, "you might've expected Roseman to opt for a guy who wouldn't pose such an immediate threat to his turf, a guy more in the mold" of former VP/Player Personnel Ed Marynowitz, who was former coach Chip Kelly's "guy in every sense of that apostrophe, less a department head than a chief of staff." That "suggests that Lurie was putting his money where his mouth was in a literal sense, offering a salary that signified to Douglas that he wasn't signing on to be a simple yes man and to the Bears that they could not match either the money or the opportunity" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 5/12).
