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May 28, 2013Bon Jovi to headline “Fan Kickoff” concert at FirstEnergy Stadium
May 28, 2013Outspoken Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown will assume a new role within the Cleveland Browns’ front office this week. Brown has served in several capacities with the Browns and, now at age 77, will begin another phase with the team.
ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi reports that Brown will be formally introduced by owner Jimmy Haslam on Wednesday to a new position with the club. The position and the specifics of its responsibilities are not yet known.
Brown, who retired from the NFL and the Browns at age 29 to pursue a movie career, has been unaffiliated with the Browns since former President Mike Holmgren effectively fired him in the spring of 2010. He was serving as “executive advisor” to former owner Randy Lerner, but was ousted as part of a large overhaul. Brown felt disrespected when Holmgren offered a lesser role at a greatly reduced salary, leading to much consternation in the form of a letter—”one monkey don’t stop the show,” Brown penned— and the boycotting of his induction in to the franchise’s charter Ring of Honor class.
A legend on and off of the field, Brown has recently referred to the team’s current running back Trent Richardson as “ordinary,” and was also one of the more outspoken supporters of former Browns owner Art Modell during the most recent NFL Hall of Fame induction season.
[Related: Cleveland Browns hit reset button on media relations]
25 Comments
Excellent – I eagerly await learning who else is ordinary!
Wait a sec… is this the new team mascot? I know Banner said they wanted to make some changes and add a logo to the helmet. Is it going to be a picture of Jim Brown’s mug?
I thought the rules stipulated that our annual Jim Brown/Cranky Legend stories are to appear only immediately following the draft or during training camp, with the sole exception being when he feels ignored and calls up Mary Kay.
Please, these rules exist for a reason. Jim takes descriptions about his token jobs quite literally, rather than as the hush money intended. Tell us all about his important duties in July, when the writers can distract him by asking the 20-something players whether they know who he was and they tell the writers how much he means to them.
advanced showing of new team logo:
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3v8mkzedd1r6isau.jpg
Hahahahaha, fantastic!
Harv, this is a new administration with their own way of doing things. Yes, they will make mistakes, but doing things differently is a necessity the way things have gone for the team. Banner is not trying to just win now, he is trying to build a foundation to stand on. He needs to get the discussion of Jim Brown and “rock legends” through the media now so that when July hits we can have enough time to discuss non-competitions at QB. Please understand the long-term vision that is necessary for moves like this one.
Indeed, I lack the imagination to keep up with Banner. And I see JB not as the monkey he so fears, but more similar to my dog. If I feed her, walk her, keep a routine, that’s her salary – she’s pretty freakin happy and low maintenance. But I don’t randomly say “Wanna go for a ride in the car?” or “Look! Squirrel!” unless we’re going in the car or there’s a squirrel she’s free to chase. From my narrow perspective, and having listened to his wonderful observations for decades, you just pay JB money you don’t tell him about car rides and squirrels unless you’re going to let him fire the GM. Or maybe be the GM. But whatever, Haslam/Banner have bought the right to step into the same PR poop pile as every other FO.
Yo momma!
At least give the guy a statue I mean Jim Thome is getting one!
This is both fair and true. The greatest Cleveland Brown should get a statue before the 4th best Cleveland Indian. Speculating there, but I would put at least LaJoie, Speaker, and Feller in front of him. Other folks would probably add more.
No Kenny Lofton? Not only does he have a greater b-r:WAR with the Tribe ( Lofton,48.5 — Thome,48), but he also was a bigger part of the rebirth of the team (Kenny was there for the rebuilding years while Thome came aboard for 1/2 season in ’94 and then fulltime in ’95 onward). Finally, we bring Kenny back for a last cup of coffee and he spurs us to the playoffs(2007). We bring back Thome and it does nothing to prevent our falloff that season(2011).
Lofton > Thome 🙂
note: I should use jWAR, but I didn’t take the time to compile it. I’ll try to find the time later (b-r does it automatically, so it’s a quick way of doing it)
Not arguing with you because I love Kenny Lofton more than I love Jim Thome, but I do think Thome deserves a lot of credit for the success of those mid-90s to early-00s teams. Manny Ramirez probably deserves more credit than both of them, but he wasn’t anywhere near as likable as either of them.
I think I remember you being in a similar boat, but when it comes to the “but he said he wouldn’t leave and then he did” talk, I don’t really care about that. I probably would have done the same thing as him both saying that I wanted to be in Cleveland forever and then leaving in free agency to try to get some rings. The Tribe was a sinking ship when he left and he was in his late prime. He’s supposed to wait for the rebuild? I never understood that or cared about what he had said given that fact.
Not sure why the idiocy of a What If …Thome statue necessitates more statues. How bout we just take turns defacing the Thome? Loved the player but this would be a stand against flimsy PR tricks. Next up: monthly paint balls to the Bingo Smith and Nate Thurmond jerseys hanging in the Q.
Nobody gets a statue for b-r:WAR or jWAR while I’m alive! And whoever gave this an uptick is a disgrace to the uniform! 😉
Albert Belle on line two for you!
Larry Doby
Put him on hold. Belle had 6 great years for the Tribe. Ramirez had 7. Thome had 10. He was certainly a top component to those early- and mid-90s Tribe powerhouses though.
yeah, I don’t really care about what he had said during FA at that time. any hard feelings that may have existed were erased when Hafner started mashing (whom Shapiro sought for a Thome-replacement).
and that is why I didn’t mention them as well. Thome did it for a longer period of time for the Tribe than they did, so he gets a slight lead on them for the alltime Tribe list.
my personal list would have Greg Swindell above Thome too, but he really only had 4 standout years for the Tribe, so I cannot defend it 🙂
Hafner has a sore knee now.
not sure how that is relevant to how he replaced Thome’s hitting over 10yrs ago, but okay.
I hear you… I have an irrational love of Omar Vizquel, who was certainly a quality player for the Tribe, but I mainly put him up there because of the amazing plays he made at shortstop. That guy would easily barehand ground balls that the average player would never even attempt. I also loved when he would trap a liner with the outside of his glove on one side and his bare hand on the other so he could quickly transition to a throw to try to double off the guy who strayed too far from base. Brilliance.
Omar was certainly a pleasure to watch play the game. And, I can see a case being made for Omar > Thome. I’d be on the Thome side of that one, but I can certainly at least see it argued. He was with the Tribe for 11 years, reinvented himself as an average hitter with good speed on the bases (making him Bournesque), while being the absolute best defensively at a premium position.
He probably had a sore knee then too!
I agree about the jerseys I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.