Jim Brown officially returned to the Cleveland Browns on Wednesday.
The Hall of Fame running back was named a special advisor to the team by owner Jimmy Haslam at a press conference on Wednesday in Cleveland. Haslam said that Brown will be active in the community and with fans as part of his new role while Brown also talked about engaging with players. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Brown said “it’s going to be tremendous” to interact with and help players on the team.
“I am excited to be back and a part of a franchise that will always be very close to my heart,” Brown said in a statement released by the team. “I want to thank Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner for giving me this chance to return to the organization and the great city of Cleveland, whose fans are the best in the NFL and who always have supported me. I look forward to getting started and once again make difference, not just with the franchise but in the Northeast Ohio community.”
Brown, who also said that the team would see as much of him “as they can stand,” also addressed his estrangement from the team in recent years. Brown pointed out that “everybody that thought I had no value” to the Browns is now gone from the organization and that Haslam has treated him with nothing but respect. As a result, Brown said he’ll stand by Haslam “come hell or high water” as Haslam faces the fallout from the investigation into Pilot Flying J.
Brown’s return to a formal role with the team should help on the PR front at the very least.