Sports

No Philadelphia Eagles Camp at Lehigh University

The Philadelphia Eagles announced Friday that they will no longer hold training camp at Lehigh University.

The Philadelphia Eagles are flying the Lehigh Valley coop.

After 17 years, training camp will no longer be held at Lehigh University, the team announced on its website Friday.

"There are so many people at Lehigh University who went above and beyond to accommodate us and to make Training Camp a special place for fans to travel each summer to get an up-close look at the team," Team President Don Smolenski said.

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"The city of Bethlehem has been part of our lives every summer for the past 17 years," Smolenski added.

He said that the team will hold Training Camp in Philadelphia this summer both at the NovaCare Complex and at Lincoln Financial Field after staging the team’s annual preseason practices at Lehigh University for the last 17 years, a press release stated.

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Smolenski went on to praise two Lehigh officials:

  • Joe Sterrett, Dean of Athletics—"who opened the doors for us 17 years ago and has been supportive every step of the way."
  • Mary Kay Baker, Director of Conference and Special Housing Services—"who was there for us on a daily basis to make sure everything ran smoothly. It’s people like them who made this such a difficult decision for us."

The team suffered a tragedy at camp last year when former Coach Andy Reid's son Garrett died of a heroin overdose that triggered an investigation by the Northampton County District Attorney's Office.

The new training camp plan will include a number of free, public practices at Lincoln Financial Field along with private practices (invitation only) at the NovaCare Complex. The full training camp schedule will be released later this spring, the team said.


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