| Ribbon Cut On NovaCare Complex! March 7, 2001 By Dave Spadaro  The scene was a perfect one on Wednesday night. Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie, flanked by wife Christina and a line of dignitaries, cut through the thick green ribbon hanging down from one Eagle head to the other across the front of the entrance to the NovaCare Complex, officially marking the grand opening of the spectacular new Eagles facility. "This is an amazing day for the Philadelphia Eagles," Lurie said, smiling broadly, proudly. "This is our new home." It was a whale of a party for all involved. The Eagles invited former greats Reggie White, Steve Van Buren, Chuck Bednarik and Tommy McDonald in for the ceremony and they were honored in a grand way. In the 189-seat, state-of-the-art auditorium hung four massive pictures -- one of each of the four players -- and the photos were unveiled with each player pulling down the curtain on immortality. "It's a great honor to be here," said McDonald, a superstar wide receiver in his day and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "This is a great place, a country place. It's unreal."  Other former players in attendance included Mike Quick, Harold Carmichael, Bill Bergey, Gerry Feehrey and Ron Jaworski, who served as the MC of the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Current players also attended, including Jeremiah Trotter, Charles Johnson and Jon Runyan. "It's unbelievable," said Johnson. "I'm in awe of this place. We had a big weight room in college, at Colorado, but this place makes it look like the little weight room you'd see in a hotel. I can't get over this place. The meeting rooms, geez, it's unbelievable." Said Trotter, who walked around the NovaCare Complex and saw that it had several pictures of him on the wall: "Oh, it's lovely. It's a huge change. It's going to be great. It's going to bring everybody together." |
