Norman Braman Norman Braman ( born August 23 , 1932 ) is a former American football team owner . He was the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles . Norman and his brother - in - law , Ed Leibowitz , officially became the owners of the Eagles on April 29 , 1985 . Norman owned 65 percent of the team while Ed owned 35 percent until July 16 , 1986 Norman bought the rest of the team from Ed . Braman sold the team to movie executive Jeffrey Lurie in 1994 . Life and career . Braman was born in 1932 in West Chester , Pennsylvania and grew up in the Cobbs Creek section of Philly where his father owned a barbershop . Braman ' s parents were both Jewish immigrants from Europe . His Romania n - born mother was a seamstress and his Polish father a barber . Braman was a water boy in his teenage years at the Eagles training camp , which was then in West Chester . During the season he would sneak into Shibe Park to watch the team play . Braman attended West Philadelphia High School and graduated from Temple University in 1955 with a degree in business administration . He began his career in 1955 in the marketing and sales department for Seagram ' s Distributors . In 1957 , he founded Keystone Stores , a chain of self - service department stores , in Philadelphia . In 1964 , he organized Philadelphia Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics , a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and was President and Chief Executive Officer . In 1972 he bought a Cadillac dealership in Tampa . Three years later he bought another in Miami and today he is CEO of Braman Enterprises , an umbrella company for his automotive businesses that include 23 car dealerships in Florida and Colorado . The dealerships sell upscale cars such as Acura , Audi , Bentley , BMW , Cadillac , Mercedes , MINI , Porsche and Rolls - Royce , as well as Hyundai and Kia . In 1982 , he led a successful campaign against a city sales tax that would have renovated the Miami Orange Bowl for Dolphins owner Joe Robbie . From 1985 to 1994 , he owned the Philadelphia Eagles football team . Braman rebuilt the Eagles into an NFL NFC Eastern Division champion in 1988 . The team won at least 10 games for five straight years through 1993 . Braman served on the Board of Governors of various institutions . In 1999 , he helped defeat then - County Mayor Alex Penelas campaign for a one - cent sales tax that could have generated billions of dollars to spend on mass transit , while potentially hurting automobile sales . Currently he operates various car dealerships in both Miami - Dade County and Palm Beach County , Florida . He recently filed a lawsuit against the Florida Marlins and others over their plans to build a new ballpark . In all seven arguments however , Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen ruled in favor of the Marlins and Miami - Dade County , allowing construction to proceed . Braman however says that he is ready to fight his case as far as the Supreme Court . He financially supported a recall election against Miami - Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez because of a huge property tax increase and pay hikes to Alvarez ' s top staffers . On March 15 , 2011 close to 90 % of those that turned out to vote that day in Miami - Dade County , voted to recall the mayor . It is believed to be one of the most lopsided recall elections in the history of American elections .