In the first public remarks regarding his involuntary departure from a senior management position with the Cleveland Browns, Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown did something that likely would have helped him keep his position.
He didn’t say anything particularly controversial.
“The one thing you learn about life is that you don’t try to hurt people,
you don’t try to defend yourself, you don’t try to do anything but be
helpful,” Brown told Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “So I stand by who I am, what I am and what I do. I will never
open up any Pandora’s box because I have too much respect for the Lerner
family and the Cleveland Browns and the way I’ve been treated. I’ve
been treated like a champion.”
On the surface, it looks like Brown has taken the high road. But reference to opening Pandora’s box implies that such a box exists. And now the Browns may have to worry about whether Brown at some point changes his mind and decides to slide open the lid.
Per Grossi, the Browns fired Brown “months ago” during a meeting with the former executive advisor and new team president Mike Holmgren, and that owner Randy Lerner didn’t intervene.
Said Brown as to the details of his departure, “The only quote I can give you that concerns the Browns is that Mrs. [Norma] Lerner, she told me once the greatest compliment that I
ever had concerning the Browns. She said, ‘I appreciate so much the
fact that you look out for my son [Randy].’”
But while Brown may have had good intentions, his penchant for public comments complicated the team’s efforts, in our view, especially in light of the lofty title he held. When Brown spoke, it wasn’t simply another former player offering up his opinions. Brown was a member of the senior management team. His words carried extra weight.
And, on at least two occasions, that wasn’t a good thing.
During the first month of the 2008 season, a year removed from the selection of quarterback Brady Quinn in round one and the unlikely ascension of quarterback Derek Anderson when he got the ball in early 2007, Brown took his case to the media for benching Anderson and giving Quinn a chance to show what he can do.
“If they don’t [go with Quinn], I don’t know what will happen,” Brown said at the time. “I’ve been
in meetings all day. I’ve met with Coach [Crennel], the president of the
organization, team captains, individual players, we all seem to be in
one accord. But it’s up to the coach to make the final decision. If he
makes the right decision, I think we can be out of this terrible slump
we’re in.”
Again, it was only September.
Former G.M. Phil Savage publicly explained that changing quarterbacks is “not the thing to do at this juncture of the season.” And so the dirty laundry was flapping in the Lake Erie breeze — one member of senior management (and also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame) wanted to make a change, and the men charged with caretaking the roster wanted to stay the course.
The fact that Brown survived in his job more than a year after choosing to publicly undermine the football operation proves that the dysfunction ran far deeper than anyone realized.
Then came, in November 2009, a successful attempt by Brown to let the cat out of the bag regarding Randy Lerner’s recruitment of Holmgren. And so Holmgren knew that Brown couldn’t have access to sensitive information regarding the operation of the team if he couldn’t be trusted to be discreet — or to not call out in the media the folks hired to make the football decisions.
Of anything that has happened in Cleveland in the past several months, the decision to part ways with Brown represents, in our view, the most tangible proof that the organization finally is moving in the right direction.
None of this changes the fact that Brown did great things on the field, perhaps becoming the greatest running back of all time. But he simply had too much power over the team in recent years — and he had no qualms about using it.
Moving forward, he still has plenty of power. Because he surely knows plenty of other secrets that, to date, he has yet to disclose.
Maybe we’ll sign him in New England. You know, as our starting RB. He’s old enough.
Make it sound like he was kicked off the team.
He was in a “fluff” position before and likely still has his “fluff” paycheck, which would explain why he isn’t talking. His title changed and no one outside of the press listens to him just like before.
Jim Brown and LeBron are neck and neck for greatest athlete in Cleveland history. Brown has the edge because he’s a champion and is widely regarded as the greatest football player of all time.
That said, this was a move that needed to be made. I agree that it’s a step toward real progress.
Great article. I love it when “viking fan/lawyers” take the time out to opine why football legends “deserve” to be booted from honorary positions. This article was COMPLETELY necessary. Just like the WEEK Florio spent at ESPN learning about sports.
Much ado about nothing.
ANYBODY terminated for ANY reason can open their mouths and be unprofessional. No matter how you slice or dice this there is not a nuance or angle you can procure to make this any more interesting than it is at this point.
Let us enjoy our Sunday morning, please.
Hey, he’s just like today’s players…….
From: http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Brown_Jim.html
An 18-year-old accused Brown of forcing her to have sex after giving her whisky, but a jury found him innocent of assault and battery in the 10-day trial in 1965. He was accused of throwing his girlfriend from a balcony in 1968, but when the 22-year-old woman refused to name Brown as her assailant, the charge of assault with intent to murder was dropped. He was fined $300 for resisting a deputy.
Brown was acquitted of assaulting a man after a traffic accident in 1969. He was fined $500 and spent a day in jail after beating up a golfing partner in 1978. He was charged with rape, sexual battery and assault in 1985, but the charges were dropped when the 33-year-old woman gave inconsistent testimony.
The next year, he was arrested for allegedly beating his fiancée after accusing her of flirting. He spent three hours in jail, but three days later the 21-year-old woman said she didn’t want to prosecute.
In October 1999, Brown was convicted in Los Angeles of smashing the window of his 25-year-old wife Monique’s car, but was acquitted of making terrorist threats against her. The judge sentenced him to three years’ probation, stripped him of his driver’s license for a year, fined him $1,700 to be paid to a battered woman’s shelter and a domestic abuse fund, and ordered him to attend special counseling for domestic batterers.
When Brown refused counseling, he was given a six-month sentence. He was released from jail in Ventura County (California) in July 2002 after serving less than four months.
“On the surface, it looks like Brown has taken the high road. But reference to opening Pandora’s box implies that such a box exists.”
Dammit, Florio… here we go again…
Is it even possible that sometimes people aren’t trying to say something without saying it? Damn lawyers!
He is a cancer they have needed to cut out for years. Part of me is unhappy that they did it because his continued presence causing dissension in management would guarantee that the team would continue to be a failure. The only thing left now killing their karma is Toni Grossi and his stupid Don Quixote show against Art Modell and the fact that the big show was an abject failure as the GM of the Seahawks.
Jim Brown is a good man but there is no place for him to be calling any shots. His previous involvement only highlights the lack of leadership that existed within the organization. That void has been closed. But, he was right about Brady Quinn. Romeo, another unqualified niceguy, should’ve given him the job sooner instead of keeping the team in purgatory.
Great move by the Big Show to get rid of this idiot. Just because he played for the Browns 100 years ago doesn’t mean he has the business acumen to flap his gums about what should or should not be done. Randy Lerner knows nothing about running a football team and was easily influenced by Jimbo, who was after nothing but free tickets and a power trip. Now he can freeze his ass off in the nosebleed seats like the rest of the 65,000 people who go week after week to watch what has been a putrid product. Maybe Jim Kelly will invite him to the company loge in Buffalo. The Bills apparently still buy into his shtick.
“On the surface, it looks like Brown has taken the high road. But reference to opening Pandora’s box implies that such a box exists. And now the Browns may have to worry about whether Brown at some point changes his mind and decides to slide open the lid.”
ICEWALKER
Thank you for your factual and enlightening post. Brown was a great running back but his is an absolute piece of sh*t as a human being.
Maybe at his advanced age, he has finally learned that he should keep his pie-hole shut. No one wants to hear what a race-baiting, aged, ex-athlete with an IQ of 80 has to say about anything.
Jim Brown has always been an AssClown. I remember how much he hated Franco Harris when he got close to breaking Browns rushing record. Brown at 47 even though about a comeback with the Raiders (of course because only a moron like Davis would consider it)…..
Brown kept talking about still being faster then Harris. They finally had a superstar’s kind of events against one another. Franco kicked Browns ass in the race……
She have left his legacy on the field instead of the one he has left with his mouth. Another loud-mouth I’m better than you-”I’m Jim Brown” ASSHOLE
I like having Brown as a part of the Browns…but not in that regard. Kudos in getting him off the payroll and decision making.
I never really understood why the hell he was on the teams payroll in the first place…..What was his official title? Head “Glory Days” consultant?
Want a great Jim Brown film moment? “Fingers”, with Harvey Keitel.
Too bad Jim Brown doesn’t use discretion on talking about everything else
Always makes me chuckle whenever he is championing for something….all the while he is a man that beats his wife
Big man he is
Good story.
Less National Guard Captains, less wide receivers running wrong routes, more of this kind of insight.
Thanks.