After the Eagles crushed the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, it brought back a memory of a wonderful, though also deeply melancholy, movie project I wrote for one of the greatest team owners in the history of the NFL. The late Jerry Wolman, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1963-1969, was perhaps the most benevolent and flamboyantly gracious owner of any sports team, ever — and yet during his time the team was a frickin’ disaster. Jerry was a poor kid from an Orthodox Jewish family living in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania — coal country — son of a grocery store owner who faced brutal anti-Semitism. In the 1950’s Jerry created a new construction company that helped invent the American suburbs. He was determined to provide housing for people who were leaving the cities for the first time. Often working side by side with the crew on construction sites to make ends meet, Jerry had a vision that everyone in America should live well. By the time Jerry was 40 he was called ‘the richest 40-year-old in America’. While his houses turned into apartment complexes and then skyscrapers, his childhood passion was football. With canny maneuvering Jerry was able to buy the team he rooted for: the Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, it was Jerry’s kid who wrote the iconic ‘Fly, Eagles, Fly@!’ team song.
There is a saying, ‘Oh, he was generous to a fault!’ Doesn’t even come close to describing Jerry’s magnanimity. Jerry was ‘generous to a disaster’! He could not give things away fast enough. He lavished gifts and wealth on people he hardly knew as well as friends and family. One of those family members was his extremely troubled and once suicidal brother-in-law, Ed Snider. Jerry rescued him, gave him a job and gave him pieces of his burgeoning sports empire. Snider repaid by stabbing him in the back at the worst moment of his life. He literally stole the Philadelphia Flyers Hockey team from Jerry. Ed Snider is now in the National Hockey League Hall of Fame under false pretenses. Jerry Wolman is mostly forgotten — although he is remembered because he owned the team during the notorious game where Eagles’ fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus!
Decades later, when Jerry asked me to adapt a book on his life, I had one of the most delightful times of my life with Jerry and his family. While we were all happy with the screenplay, it turned end out that Jerry — as I said giving away things was his flaw — had promised some shysters ‘Producer’ credits. Before we could straighten that out, Jerry’s diabetes overwhelmed him and after a grueling ordeal in the hospital, he died. While I still think it would make a wonderful film, I attach the screenplay for you to read so you can know about this Philadelphia legend. It’s a fun read and an amazing story.
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