It wasn't a contentious call (we've had those, too). It came across as more of an attempt to understand this vibe I was getting. He said that the Eagles do internal polling that showed the opposite. He mentioned that internal polling again after the season in an on-the-record setting. I made fun of the notion then that they were doing popularity polling on their players and coaches, as if it mattered in the end. Banner said they were just trying to get a handle on all of this stuff.
All of this came up again the other day, when three Daily News reporters - Les Bowen, Paul Domowitch and I - sat down for an hour with Reid and Banner. I threw the Connie Mack stat at him and everybody laughed. I asked about last year, and my perception of the rough ride he got from the fans, and that maybe it was as simple as a decade of time and familiarity working against him, and this whole business of perceptions came up again.
Then, buried in the midst of a media packet the Eagles have prepared, were the polling numbers. And they are stunning.
Reid could run for president and win with these numbers. So could Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. So could quarterback Donovan McNabb. If these numbers are to believed, the holy trinity of Philadelphia football punching bags might not be able to beat Brady, Belichick and Kraft, but they could beat Obama - every one of them.
Even though there was a decline in Reid's numbers between 2007 and 2008 (see accompanying chart), 89 percent of "avid" fans and 74 percent of season-ticketholders have a positive impression of Reid. Only three percent of "avid" fans and nine percent of season ticketholders have a negative impression of Reid.
It is why, as Banner and Reid said, that the Eagles have such a problem with the anecdotal evidence.
