Eagles owner tackles political polarization in open letter

Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is used to battling Washington on the football field, but now he's taking his fight to Capitol Hill.

Fed up with the trends of American politics, Lurie stated his case against the country's leaders in an open letter for Time that was published Friday.

He used his own life experiences to make the point that a united front is much more successful than a divided one.

What I have learned from football can be applied to society at large. Just as we intensely game-plan against an opponent in sports, we need to game plan for the reality and consequences of polarization. Extreme polarization is the opponent - not each other. A football team is made up of players from a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and political viewpoints. What unites them is grit, determination, and the desire to win. They join in a common goal and do what is necessary to transcend their differences for the greater good of their team.

What unites Americans is far more negative. We are now in an age where communicating verifiable information becomes secondary to the goal of creating a common enemy that unifies people in fear, negativity and opposition. This masks our inability to solve serious domestic problems (poverty, violence, and institutional racism, to name three current examples) and diverts our attention from obvious suffering.

Lurie said his country has accomplished many great things and contains many great minds, but, if the divide continues, it will be difficult to make progress.

All we are lacking is leadership. Imagine if Republicans and Democrats put down their swords just for a day to create a comprehensive multi-disciplinary, multi-occupational effort to solve the mysteries of autism and uncover groundbreaking treatments. Imagine how we would benefit from understanding aspects of the autistic brain that can include rare mathematical, creative, and other cognitive abilities that may well enhance our own brain power and human potential. We might even excite our global rivals to join this united effort.

- With h/t to Adam Schefter