Friday, August 3, 2012

Browns sold to the Pilot....

The Cleveland Browns were sold today,pending NFL approval, to Jimmy Haslam for a billion dollars.
The upfront cost was 700 million with Haslam paying the remaining 300 million paid in four years to Randy Lerner.
Haslam is the owner of the Pilot/ Flying J travel plazas/truck stop chain that is based in Tennessee and has been a minority owner of the Steelers for the last few years,including their last two championships.

I'll put the Steeler issue aside pretty easily as he only owned his small percentage for a limited period of time and the "1,000 percent Steeler fan" comment after all,of course you want to be part of what you own.
I don't understand complaining about that,I mean after all-Would you pay a billion dollars to NOT do your best to win because you owned a small percentage of another team in the past?
Haslam seems to be the type of owner that is going to be very involved in the team,which makes me think that winning will be very important,much more important than making a larger profit.
Randy Lerner never seemed to be that interested in the Browns and like with any of us,it is difficult to put ones heart and soul into what is not a passion.

The especially paranoid among Browns fans look at Haslam as the beginning of the end for the team in Cleveland.
The lease is rock solid,the Browns aren't going to Los Angeles or anywhere else.
I can understand the nervousness among the fan base,but there is nothing to these thoughts.

My biggest issue is the addition of former Eagles president Joe Banner to the Haslam group.
Banner is not going to come to Cleveland to be a Mike Holmgren underling and Holmgren is not going to be reporting to Joe Banner,so to me it is just a matter of time before Holmgren leaves the franchise.
Tom Heckert worked for Banner with the Eagles,so I suppose that it is possible that Heckert could stay with the team as could Pat Shurmur as he was an Eagles assistant as well.
If it was my choice,I'd keep Heckert and dump Shurmur,but that will be determined at the end of the season.

However,another school of thought has Haslam overhauling everything and cleaning house at the conclusion of the season.
I would not be against making things more like the Steelers at all.
I like the fact that they take advantage of the elements and install a consistency in their organization that few can match.
The problem with turning to the Steeler style of being based around a physical team on offense and defense would be that the Holmgren era has been based around finesse football and would lead to yet another building period.
Frankly,I am tired of building,I'd like to see some results!
If there would be a possible way to transition to that,using the current talent as a bridge to that (and with Trent Richardson and a strong O-Line,I can see that as possible) I certainly would be in favor of that possibility.

In any event,I think that this is a good thing.
It might not be something that changes things,but anytime you add someone that cares in place of someone that did not place the same level of importance on something-It's a good thing.
Until then,shop at your local Pilot or Flying J and Go Browns!





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