Michael Thomas Leibrandt: Moving Eagles training camp was a mistake

Each summer of my youth, I spent the dog-days of early August in the daily hope that my Dad would come home from work and announce that we were taking a trip. No, this wasn’t a fun-filled family vacation to fill our shoes and luggage with fresh sand from the Jersey Shore, this was a trip to see the Eagles at training camp.

Dad could hardly say no. His father had left work to take the Reading Railroad down to Atlantic City in 1934 to see Eagles training camp. And he himself had been at Widener during the Dick Vermeil era in the 1970s.

Like Grandpop and Dad before me, it was much more that just an in-person chance to see some of my favorite players. This was an opportunity to measure the talents of how far my Eagles would go that year, practicing in the heat of August for the opportunity to play in the cold air of January.

As we motored up Route 309 towards Lehigh University, the car filled with Eagles memorabilia and the pleasing aroma of a fast-food breakfast  —  my excitement hit a crescendo at the prospect of seeing some of my favorite Eagles players. When we arrived, the free event was marked by a pathway that allowed me to see both offensive and defensive units hard at work in the summer sun. Nearly twenty years later  —  when a group of my friends and I attended after college  —  that excitement in my stomach found me once again.

Those late-August days are now long gone. Nearly a decade ago in 2013, the team moved from the campus of Lehigh University back to the confines of the Novacare Complex and the the training camp experience was changed forever.

Leaving Lehigh University to return to South Philadelphia wasn’t the only disservice about moving training camp. The damage done to Bethlehem  —  an historic Pennsylvania town dating back to the settling of the Moravians in 1741  —  was all but crippling.

The move left a significant revenue gap for Lehigh University. The yearly, extended contract that provided revenue to the University for the ability of the Eagles to use their practice fields and dormitories, while also reaping the benefit of thousands of Philadelphia fans getting a first-hand look at their gorgeous campus against a mountain backdrop as a recruitment tool, cannot be underscored.

When it came to the annual tradition, it wasn’t only Lehigh University that enjoyed an economic boost. The surrounding Bethlehem area hotels, restaurants, and bars played host to nearly 75,000 Eagles fans each year. Starters Pub  —  the scene of LeSean McCoy’s birthday years earlier where the Eagles had frequented  —  closed down in 2014.

Tourism is critical to the Lehigh Valley region, which generates an estimated $2 Billion annually including $395 Million in tax revenue, creating and annual estimated 23,000 jobs while accounting for almost $881 Million in earnings yearly.

For a team that prides itself on a close relationship to the community, Even if the Eagles are following the blueprint of most modern NFL Teams, holding a limited amount of open practices in South Philadelphia and charging admission isn’t preserving the training camp experience. It’s changed it completely. 

As of 2022 ,  seven NFL teams still travel to destination training camps:  the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams, Las Vegas Raiders, and Kansas City Chiefs. The NFL team attempting to extend its dynasty with the man who brought the Eagles back into relevance in the early 2000s  —  Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs still travel to a destination training camp.

It’s funny . Riding back in the car as the sun set for me on another Eagles training camp with my new Eagles “merch” and photos of my favorite Eagles players that topped off an enjoyable day with my Dad  —  I didn’t worry at all about the team that year. 

I’ll always have the memory of Eagles training camp at Lehigh University.

Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township, Pennsylvania.

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