Sielski: Howie Roseman's 'secret diary'

During a meeting with reporters in Boca Raton, Fla., on Tuesday, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was asked what made him think that Howie Roseman deserved to be back in charge of the franchise's player-personnel department after Lurie had fired Chip Kelly in December.

"The whole plan was for Howie to really spend the time studying state-of-the-art decision-making around the globe in sports," Lurie said. "We really opened it up, from English Premier League, NHL, NBA, MLB - try to find who the best general managers or 'head of basketball operations' were. . . . Really take that year and learn from the best - they're usually open about their successes and mistakes and where they got lucky - and take it all in."

The Inquirer has obtained a copy of Roseman's travel diary for 2015. Some excerpts have been published below.

Feb. 27, 2015, Clearwater, Fla.

In planning this vision quest, I decided to drive straight to Clearwater from the NovaCare Complex. I wanted time to think, to contemplate my place in the Eagles' organization, in the NFL, in the world, with a clear mind. So I played Red Rider's "Lunatic Fringe" on a loop for all 17 hours of my ride before I finally parked my rented '09 Camry outside Bright House Field.

I met Ruben Amaro, the Phillies' general manager, inside his office. For a few years, the Phillies had been an elite team. They had been division champions five straight years. They won a World Series. I wanted to know more. How had they done this, and why had it all fallen apart?

"Got me," Amaro said. "We spent money, and we did the same things that good baseball organizations have always done for years - you know, trusting our scouts. Should have worked. Don't know why it didn't."

I asked Ruben how much the organization had relied on analytics for its success.

"Who is she?"

"Who is who?"

"Ann Alidiks."

I left a few minutes later, puzzled but undaunted.

March 17, 2015, Foxborough, Mass.

Coach Belichick had said he was going to meet me for lunch at a restaurant not far from Logan Airport. But when my plane landed there, I turned on my iPhone to find a text message from him: COME TO FXBORO INSTD & HURY UP. With the St. Patrick's Day traffic, the drive took me nearly an hour and a half. Coach is a good man, and I'm sure he just forgot people would out partying all day and didn't mean to inconvenience me.

When I arrived at 1 Patriot Place, five security guards confiscated my phone, then conducted a full-body pat down. Upon entering Coach Belichick's office, I noticed that a video camera in an upper corner of the room trained its lens toward me, but I didn't make much of it. I was more focused on Coach Belichick. The Patriots had just won their fourth Super Bowl, and I had some time now with the genius behind all that success. What could he tell me?

At first, I couldn't hear what he was saying. His lips seemed not to move. He spoke as if his mouth were full of grapes and coins.

"Garblebarblemumblebumble," he said. That's what it sounded like, anyway.

I leaned in closer.

"Murbleburblefungledungle."

I asked him, as politely as I could, if he could speak up.

"Got lucky. Drafted Brady."

I was deflated but still eager to learn.

May 25, 2015, New York.

I hadn't wanted to limit my search merely to successful people involved in sports. I had wanted to reach out to people from all walks of life - as long as they understood greatness, as long as they wanted to do classy things in the classiest way possible. My goal was simple: Make the Eagles great again.

So I spent a couple of hours today in Manhattan with a man who says he has a plan to do exactly that for the whole country. Unfortunately, his plan involves making a lot of empty promises, failing to learn anything of substance about many of the major issues in his field, and insulting people whom he doesn't like or who don't like him. I don't think I can take much from this experience.

September 13, 2015, Bala Cynwyd.

Had lunch with 76ers general manager and president Sam Hinkie today. He made a lot of interesting points, but he insisted that our conversation stay between us. I couldn't even write down what he said. And every time I asked him a question, he said he wouldn't know the answer for at least seven years. Sigh . . .

November 13, 2015, Tempe, Ariz.

I had told Jeffrey, just before we hired Chip back in 2013, that Bruce Arians was too old-school to be our head coach. I felt we needed someone who was on the cutting edge, someone with a more innovative football mind. As it turned out, Coach Arians proved me wrong over his first two-plus seasons with the Cardinals, and I thought he might better explain to me why his coaching methods worked. Were there timeless principles of inspiration and team building that he recognized and understood?

I'll never know. He took one look at me and said, "Buzz off, pip-squeak. I deal with football men." Then he threw his Kangol hat at me like a ninja star and walked away.

msielski@phillynews.com

@MikeSielski