Philadelphia

Jeff Lurie Not Giving Up on Kelly Green Jerseys

ORLANDO, Fla. - Eagles owner Jeff Lurie hasn't given up on his quest to bring back kelly green jerseys. 

Things are just at a standstill on that front right now. 

"I was just dealing with this yesterday," Lurie said on Tuesday evening at the NFL's annual meetings. "What we're hoping to have happen ... the whole key is we want a kelly green helmet to go with the kelly green jersey. We're trying to get the league to allow a second helmet. That's where it's at. They very much know we want this and we want it badly. We're waiting." 

Over the last year or so, Lurie hasn't been shy about his desire to bring back the fan favorite jerseys as alternates. Before last owners meetings, the Eagles proposed a rule change that would allow teams to wear multiple helmets. They later withdrew the proposal at the suggestion of the competition committee, but Lurie's resolve to get it done hasn't wavered. 

As recently as September, Lurie expressed hope that the rule would be changed in time for the Eagles to wear kelly green alternate jerseys as soon as 2018. While it seems unlikely that will get done, he hasn't given up hope about possibly wearing them next season. 

"I don't know," Lurie said. "As I said, I was on it yesterday and trying to make progress. We don't have a game for half a year, so you never know."

Right now, league rules prohibit players from using multiple helmets and a midnight green helmet atop a kelly green jersey is a fashion faux pas even the least style-conscious person could recognize. The alternative would be to use decals over the existing helmets, but Lurie has previously said he doesn't want to go that route. 

Lurie said the ultimate decision would probably have to come down from commissioner Roger Goodell, but continued to remain vague about why there's opposition to changing the rule, saying there are "complications" that need to be sorted. 

Competition committee chairman Rich McKay told NBC Sports Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon that the opposition to the possible rule change is a safety issue, not one of cost. Basically, the older rule is in place because they wanted each player fitted correctly for one helmet per season. McKay seemed optimistic the rule might eventually change. 

"They have to decide, do they want to go to a plan that would be a two-helmet plan for the NFL?" Lurie said. "That's not what we do now, it's a one-helmet league. There's ramifications in that, I suppose. They know that with the Eagles, it's important to us. We really want to be able to have kelly green jerseys at time and to make it look really right, you have to have matching helmets."

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