NEW ORLEANS — Jeffrey Lurie bought the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994, smack-dab in the middle of the Dallas Cowboys' dominance. America's Team was Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, coached by Jimmy Johnson and owned by Jerry Jones.

However, by the end of Lurie's second year, the franchises were headed in completely opposite directions. Dallas won its third Super Bowl in four years, but the Eagles won a playoff game after the 1995 season, and from 1997-2024 the Eagles replaced the Cowboys as the beast of the NFC East.

Since the 1996 playoffs, Jones' Cowboys are 5-13 in the postseason. They haven't gotten past the division round. They missed the playoffs this year for the fourth time in eight seasons.

Meanwhile, Lurie's Eagles are 19-16 in the postseason since the 1996 playoffs. They've reached the conference championship eight times, they've reached the Super Bowl four times, and they've won it once, after the 2017 season. They've reached the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons.

Lurie was asked directly at Super Bowl LIX on Monday night why his team has been so much more successful than Jerry's — a man known for specious coaching hires, raucous players and shameless self-promotion. Lurie has a master's degree in psychology. He knows what he was saying. He did not hold back.

"I think everybody has to be true to what they believe in," Lurie said.

In his three decades of ownership, Lurie has been much more progressive-minded than most NFL owners. He understood fiscal responsibility: that manipulating the salary cap was more important than simply spending big bucks on big talent. He bore the brunt of letting popular, aging players leave the team. He was an early adapter to quarterback-centric, pass-first offenses. He was an early investor in sports science and analytics.

As Lurie matured as an owner, he also prioritized a nurturing culture. He sought players with high character, like Jason Kelce, Brandon Graham and, of course, Nick Foles.

Lurie holds a Ph.D. in social policy, and he even taught college courses on the subject. Little wonder, then, that his franchise became more socially evolved than most money-first clubs.

Finally, Lurie has found diamonds in the rough. He hired current Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid in 1999 when Reid was just the Packers' quarterbacks coach. No other teams even interviewed Doug Pederson or Nick Sirianni, Lurie's last two head-coaching hires, but Lurie was sold on them, in part, because of their high levels of emotional intelligence — levels that helped the Eagles reach three Super Bowls in the last eight years.

The Eagles aren't America's team — most recently, that distinction has belonged to the New England Patriots, and now to the Chiefs — but it damn sure ain't the Dallas Cowboys. Not anymore.

To hear Lurie talk, Jones has reaped what he's sown.

"You know, I grew up obsessed with sports — all four major American sports. I admired certain organizations. I admired certain people that drove my values," said Lurie, a Boston native who, for instance, adored Red Auerbach's selfless, dominant Celtics.

He hires like-minded leaders.

"Those that I select to work as coaches and GMs and presidents of teams, and player development, and all that — it incorporates everything I believe in," he said.

Lurie noted that his chief lieutenants, general manager Howie Roseman and president Don Smolenski, share that belief system.

"We just have this culture that we believe in," Lurie said. That culture doesn't exist on every NFL team. "Everyone has to do it differently."

Or, everyone can choose to do it differently.

Teams don't have to be as evolved as Lurie's to win.

No one will confuse Bill Belichick and the notorious, demanding, soulless "Patriot Way" that demanded blind obedience to the Hoodie's tenets with the more connected cultures created by Pederson and Sirianni. No one will mistake Reid's brusque, Wilford Brimley, no-nonsense approach with the Eagles' collaborative, communicative system of development.

But then, no one will dispute the disappointment and dysfunction in Dallas over the past 28 years ... and counting.

When he finished with his truth sermon, Lurie softened his observation of Jerry's world with a mild concession:

"You know, I have a lot of respect for Dallas. They've won 12 games, I think, three years in a row, right?"

Right.

Then, unable to resist, Lurie added, "Until this year."

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