Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie honored at ESPN’s Sports Humanitarian Awards: 'Hopefully we’ll have a global impact'

NEW YORK — When Jeffrey Lurie purchased the Eagles in 1994, he had two goals.

Goal one, as any owner will say, was to win. Goal two was to make the franchise synonymous with a “global health cause.”

Lurie’s accomplished the former, winning two Super Bowls in the past decade. On Tuesday, he was celebrated for the latter.

At ESPN’s Sports Humanitarian Awards at Gotham Hall in Manhattan, the Eagles owner was presented the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award for his work with the Eagles Autism Foundation and the Lurie Autism Institute. The two initiatives have collectively donated more than $100 million toward Autism research and clinical care programs. The award is given annually to someone who uses their position in sports to help disadvantaged groups.

“You know, [winning] was sort of unexpected,” Lurie told The Inquirer. “[We] devote so much time to what we’re trying to do off the field with autism research and spend so much time trying to assure the Eagles are great … It’s a wonderful award. You know, I’ve sort of followed it over the years, and it’s nice to be recognized for humanitarian things.”

The Eagles Autism Foundation was founded in 2019 following the first Eagles Autism Challenge — an annual 5K bike ride to raise research funds for the neurological condition. The latest Eagles Autism Challenge had 6,500 participants and raised $16 million.

The Lurie Autism Institute is a center for autism research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine. It opened last June after Lurie and his family donated $50 million to the two institutes. It is the largest center for autism-specific research.

“Autism was natural for me, my family, and millions of others around the world,” said Lurie, whose brother Peter is on the spectrum. “We’re getting there. We want the Eagles to be synonymous with trying to do everything possible that’s innovative with autism research and serving that community. And we’re certainly getting there. And it’s nice to be recognized on a national basis, and hopefully we’ll have a global impact.”

Lurie was supported by his Eagles family at the event. Jason Kelce — who raised $1.26 million for the Eagles Autism Foundation at his “Team 62” event in Sea Isle City earlier this month — presented Lurie’s award along with his wife and Not Gonna Lie podcast host Kylie Kelce.

Other notable figures present at Tuesday’s award show included Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and his wife, Ayesha Curry; former NBA player Jarron Collins; New York Giants co-owner Laurie Tisch; Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin; and former MLB pitcher Jim Abbott.

Moments from the Sports Humanitarian Awards are scheduled to appear during the ESPYs, ESPN’s annual sports awards, on Wednesday (ABC, 8 p.m.).

‘Boo-Yah’

The namesake for the ENSPIRE award belongs to longtime SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott, who died from appendiceal cancer in 2015. After being diagnosed in 2007, Scott stayed at ESPN while undergoing chemotherapy. Months before his death, Scott delivered a now-famous speech at the ESPYs in which he told the audience to “fight like hell.”

Sydni Scott, one of Stuart’s two daughters, was 14 at the time of her father’s famed speech. She attended Tuesday’s award show.

“This is one of my favorite nights of the entire summer,” said Sydni Scott. “I really think of my dad’s ENSPIRE Award as an award for people that are breaking barriers to bring more people into sports. You think back to the 90s, early 2000s, that was my dad. He was bringing Black culture, hip-hop, rap — all of those types of things into a very straight-laced kind of sports journalism and sports broadcasting environment.”

“In the past years you see that there are people who are working to make sure that deaf people are able to enjoy sports and Indigenous people are able to enjoy sports,” she added. “Every year, there is a community that I didn’t even realize.”

While posing on the red carpet on Tuesday, Lurie mouthed “Boo-Yah” — Scott’s famous SportsCenter catchphrase.

“It means a lot to have the award that Stuart Scott epitomized,” Lurie said. “I admired him. You know, he was inspirational. He was authentic, always genuine, and his battle with cancer was something we all were struck by, how he handled it. And having had family members with cancer, it was inspirational. To have the ENSPIRE Award inspired by Stuart is a something I’m proud of.”

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