Norman Braman

Norman Braman (born August 23, 1932) is an American billionaire car dealer, art collector, and former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Braman was born in 1932 in West Chester, Pennsylvania,[1] and grew up in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia, where his father owned a barbershop.

[4][5] Braman attended West Philadelphia High School and graduated from Temple University in 1955 with a degree in business administration.

During these early years, Braman was mentored by well-known car dealer and fellow Philadelphia native Victor Potamkin.

[7] By 1980, Braman had Cadillac, BMW, Rolls-Royce, Fiat, Lancia, and Toyota dealerships along the 2000 block of Biscayne Boulevard in Miami.

[8] In addition to his retail automotive businesses, Braman had majority ownership of Austin Rover Cars of North America (ARCONA), the distributorship for Sterling automobiles imported to the United States starting in 1987.

[10] Braman and his brother-in-law, Ed Leibowitz, became owners of the Philadelphia Eagles in April 1985 having acquired them from Leonard Tose for a reported $65 million.

Despite the talent of the team, which at one time included players such as Keith Jackson, Reggie White, Eric Allen, and Seth Joyner, the Eagles failed to reach the Super Bowl with Braman as an owner.

[11][12] As early as 1987, Braman had thought of firing Ryan (who he chose over candidates David Shula and Jim Mora) due to his uncompromising nature as a coach with total roster control, particularly as Ryan backed the players in the strike that year while focusing little on constructing the replacement player roster that proceeded to go 0-3.

Never a fulltime resident in Philadelphia, Braman remarked at the time of the announcement, "I live in Miami and traveling the 16 weeks in the fall -- well, there's more to life than the National Football League.