Rob McElhenney receives advice from Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman on Wrexham A.F.C. management, has interest in taking ownership stake of a Philadelphia sports team

Ahead of ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ Season 3, Rob McElhenney did an interview with Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gabriela Carroll on what to expect from his football club, his love for Philadelphia, receiving advice from Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman, and his desire to take ownership stake in a Philadelphia sports team.

When asked about being a team owner and if he had any advice for ownership in Philadelphia, Rob McElhenney said that he’s the one receiving advice and that Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has been a “great advisor” – speaking to him on several occasions.

McElhenney continued saying that he’s also been in touch with Howie Roseman who he considers to be “one of the greatest general managers in all of sports”. He has received a ton of advice from both of the guys in Eagles’ ownership on how to successfully run a business and how to build the appropriate culture. 

Rob McElhenney on taking advice from Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman:

Jeffrey Lurie has been a really great adviser to me. In times of uncertainty, I will reach out to him because I just feel like he’s one of the classiest and most successful owners in all professional sports. I just love the way that he runs that organization, and so any times I have questions about how I should handle something, I’ll reach out to him and he’s just so generous with his time.

Howie Roseman, who I believe is one of the greatest general managers in all of sports, has also been a great adviser of ours. There’s not a direct one-to-one between American football and global football, in terms of how the sport is played, but in terms of the way the business is run, and the way that the culture is created, I think I’ve learned a lot from the two of them very specifically.

McElhenney has also expressed interest in taking ownership stake in a Philadelphia sports team and has “tried desperately” to make it happen. 

“…believe me — and maybe this is a message out to the Lurie family — Jeffrey, if you are considering selling, please have your first phone call be my way. And also, Mr. [John] Middleton, if the Phillies are available at some point, and you’re looking for, I don’t know, $3 billion, I mean, look elsewhere first, but then come to me if you’re looking for significantly less, for sure”

Unfortunately Rob McElhenney didn’t mention the Philadelphia 76ers  – who I believe, like many basketball fans in the city of Philadelphia, are in desperate need of an ownership change.

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment has been proven to care about only the business side of owning a sports team and their profit margin. On top of that they are too invested in other professional sports teams to actually give a shit about the 76ers, or really any team that they have a stake in.

Note: David Blitzer is a minority owner of the Cleveland Guardians and purchased the Real Salt Lake MLS club. Josh Harris purchased the Washington Commanders, and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. 

Clearly, there’s a problem with the way the Philadelphia 76ers have been operated over the past two decades. As for the Philadelphia Flyers, well, they are owned by Comcast Spectacor and are a faceless organization. We can get into that another day.

Right next to the Wells Fargo Center is Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park, home to the Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Phillies. It’s no secret that the Eagles and the Phillies have good culture and that stems directly from the ownership in Jeffrey Lurie and John Middleton. 

After reading McElhenney’s comments about taking advice from Lurie and Roseman, while expressing interest in taking an ownership stake in a Philadelphia sports team, it’s a no-brainer that he should team up with Middleton and Lurie to purchase the Philadelphia 76ers from the money-hungry tyrants over at HBSE.

John Middleton, Jeffrey Lurie, and Rob McElhenney should buy the Philadelphia 76ers

Reminder: https://t.co/YX910teLFm

— Drew Smith (@drewmsmith) April 29, 2024

The Philadelphia 76ers are a franchise with no direction.

Joel Embiid and the 76ers are now on the brink of the 7TH STRAIGHT “early exit” from the NBA playoffs after this organization has promised us an NBA Championship after years of the dreadful “Process” has literally only produced us with Embiid himself.

Fans have bought in to this team being serious contenders for nearly a decade, only to be hit with roster changes year after year, poor NBA draft selections and trade deadline moves, followed by disappointing playoff performances in which their star player and franchise cornerstone, Joel Embiid, is never fully healthy.

The fact that every Philadelphia sports fan isn’t blaming the 76ers front office for organizational malpractice after they have continuously failed at building a championship roster to surround a generational talent like Joel Embiid with the support he so desperately needs is literally sickening.

Just take a look at the Philadelphia 76ers first round draft picks dating back to 2009 when they selected Jrue Holiday with the No. 17 overall pick. It’s laughable and honestly disgusting.

Note: Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011.

Philadelphia 76ers First Round Draft Picks 

• 2009: Pick 17 – Jrue Holiday 
• 2010: Pick 2 – Evan Turner 
• 2011: Pick 16 – Nikola Vucevic
• 2012: Pick 15 – Maurice Harkless 
• 2013: Pick 6 – Nerlens Noel (via Pelicans trade)
• 2013: Pick 11 – Michael Carter-Williams 
• 2014: Pick 3 – Joel Embiid 
• 2014: Pick 10 – Elfrid Payton (Traded for Dario Saric) 
• 2015: Pick 3 – Jahlil Okafor 
• 2016: Pick 1- Ben Simmons
• 2016: Pick 24 – Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot 
• 2016: Pick 26 – Furkan Korkmaz 
• 2017: Pick 1 – Markelle Fultz 
• 2018: Pick 10 – Mikal Bridges (Traded for Zaire Smith) 
• 2018: Pick 26 – Landy Shamet 
• 2019: Pick 24 – Ty Jerome (Traded for Matisse Thybulle) 
• 2020: Pick 21 – Tyrese Maxey 
• 2021: Pick 28 – Jaden Springer 
• 2022: Pick 23 – David Roddy (Traded for De’Anthony Melton) 
• 2023: No First Round Draft Pick

Looking at the picks above, really none of them outside of Holiday, Vucevic, and Bridges turned into anything in the NBA. Ben Simmons, as we all know, showed promise but fell off the face of the earth and while Markelle Fultz is still playing, he has never lived up to a No. 1 overall selection. Mikal Bridges was THE pick but the 76ers traded him for Zaire Smith…lol

"The Process" ended after the Fultz-Simmons-Embiid failure. pic.twitter.com/5lShVGdMeZ

— Drew Smith (@drewmsmith) April 29, 2024

That leaves nearly 12 years of the NBA Draft picks to go along with a miserable “Process” in Philadelphia and all we have to show for it are two picks – one of which happened during the COVID year of 2020. The only players that were drafted that were actually worthy of a first round selection being Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

From there, you have to wonder why anyone in the Philadelphia 76ers front office even has jobs at this point, right? I mean seriously, what the hell is going on?

Oh! And while we’re at it, take the Philadelphia Union out of Chester immediately. Move them to the Navy Yard. Cancel the dumbass plans for the Philadelphia 76ers to move out of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex and finally finish what Xfinity Live was supposed to be.

Xfinity Live! announces new $12 million expansion project >>

Obviously, this is just a fever dream and the likelihood of Rob McElhenney teaming up with Middleton and Lurie is ridiculous to suggest but that doesn’t mean looking at how bad the Philadelphia 76ers have been managed over the last 15+ years, it truly is infuriating.

The information listed above doesn’t even include the mishandling of Ben Simmons, the questionable coaching hire of Doc Rivers, and the fact that Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, and James Harden all played for this team at some point over the past five seasons.

It’s an absolute mess.

Can Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney save the Philadelphia 76ers with the help of Jeffrey Lurie and John Middleton? Probably not – but it never hurts to dream, right?

sweet jesus it’s @Deadpool wyd @VancityReynolds pic.twitter.com/3JMwxjhcvS

— Drew Smith (@drewmsmith) April 29, 2024

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