Jeffrey Lurie

PHOENIX - Bring on the snow, the sleet, the howling wind, Jeffrey Lurie said on a brilliantly sunny, mid-80s day in Arizona, a light breeze ruffling his hair, as he stood in the shade on a covered outdoor corridor at the Arizona Biltmore hotel during a break in the NFL meetings. When asked whether he regretted his vote in favor of holding the NFL's first cold-weather, open-stadium Super Bowl next February in East Rutherford, N.J., Lurie said he did not. Then he obligingly took things a step further, for grateful Philadelphia reporters looking for a nice headline.

After another day of little progress in the negotiations between Hollywood producer Jeffrey Lurie and Eagles owner Norman Braman, Lurie's attorneys gave up hope of completing a deal to buy the team before the NFL owners meet next week in Orlando, Fla. Then, when it became apparent yesterday that the discussions had stalled, Lurie canceled a meeting with NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, sources and NFL officials said. Lurie had asked for the meeting - which would have been held today at the NFL's offices in midtown Manhattan - to discuss several outstanding conflicts between the league and the Eagles.

Jeffrey Lurie never rests. While most NFL owners are enjoying a few weeks' respite from pro football's seemingly endless minicamps, meetings and maneuverings, Lurie yesterday made the biggest front-office move since he took control of the Eagles one year and 10 days ago. Bob Ackles, a veteran football executive who spent three years in Dallas helping Jimmy Johnson rebuild the Cowboys into an NFC East powerhouse, was named director of...

You don't have to be a tough guy to hate losing. Veteran Eagles lineman Guy McIntyre, now there's a tough guy. Just look at him. He's built like one of the stone bulwarks for the Ben Franklin Bridge. Next to him, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie looks like a schoolboy. Lurie walks with a bounce in his step. He has this cute spray of white curly hair, thick black eyebrows, a graying mustache, and a twinkle in his green-brown eyes. Elfin comes to mind. Jeffrey Lurie is not a tough guy. But don't underestimate the sweet-faced, rich, 44-year-old kid with the spiffy new Eagles official nylon warm-up suit and cap and the genuine gee-whiz-am-I-really-here?

The free-agent period isn't over for the Eagles, but it is clearly in its last chapter. In six days, they have signed a starting defensive end (Darren Howard), a starting wide receiver (Jabar Gaffney), a starting weakside linebacker (Shawn Barber), a backup tight end (Matt Schobel) and a backup quarterback (Jeff Garcia). They also have re-signed defensive end Juqua Thomas and wide receiver Darnerien McCants while finally setting Terrell Owens free. All that remains is for the Eagles to decide if they're going to re-sign right tackle Jon Runyan and if they can find someone to replace Dhani Jones at strongside linebacker.

Philadelphia will soon find out how serious Norman Braman is about selling the Eagles to Hollywood producer Jeffrey Lurie. Now that Braman has returned from a three-week cruise in Southeast Asia, there are no logistical obstacles remaining. No muddled faxes. No unanswered trans-Pacific telephone calls. In the coming days, lawyers for both men hope to hammer out the remaining unresolved financial and legal issues, and sign an agreement of sale that would make Lurie, 42, the youngest owner of an NFL franchise.

Many Philadelphia football fans might not be the only people eager to see Norman Braman sell the Eagles. Down here, senior NFL executives who have gathered for their annual winter meetings said yesterday that they were ready for Braman to go, too. Even NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue - in a rare display of candor about the pending sale of a team - embraced Braman's suitor, Hollywood producer Jeffrey Lurie. "I know Jeff," Tagliabue said. "I met him about a year ago, when he was having some conversations with Jim Orthwein about buying the (New England)

Ricky Watters, finishing the last of a series of live radio interviews on his first day in an Eagles uniform, turned to leave the press lounge on the fourth floor of Veterans Stadium and ran right into another free agent who was signed yesterday. Raleigh McKenzie - all 6-feet-2, 277 pounds of him - clogged the doorway. Watters, perhaps realizing that McKenzie will soon be in charge of opening the middle of the field for him, quickly embraced the former Washington Redskins offensive lineman.

A Hollywood producer who is heir to a multimillion-dollar publishing fortune has offered to buy the Philadelphia Eagles for $185 million, the highest price ever offered for a National Football League franchise, sources familiar with the proposed deal said yesterday. Miami car dealer Norman Braman, who bought the Eagles for $65 million in 1985, is seriously considering the offer from Jeffrey Lurie of Beverly Hills, Calif., who has tried four times in the last two years to buy an NFL franchise and failed for one reason or another.

Dick Vermeil has decided that he wants to return to the Eagles as head coach and general manager, and he plans to meet today or tomorrow with owner Jeffrey Lurie to see if a deal can be struck, two sources close to Vermeil said last night. Lurie, who has been courting the former Eagles head coach for weeks, was expected at the Eagles offices at Veterans Stadium sometime today after returning from a Florida vacation and from completing the purchase of a house in the Philadelphia suburbs.