Daily Dawg Tags: Jimmy Haslam does it again
By Thomas Moore
Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam continued to cement his legacy as the worst owner in Cleveland history with his firing of Sashi Brown on Thursday.
Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam did it again.
Haslam fired executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown on Thursday, less than two years after promoting Brown to undergo the most overdue rebuilding effort in the history of pro sports.
With Brown out of the picture, Haslam hired John Dorsey to be the new general manager. Dorsey was last seen being fired by the Kansas City Chiefs over concerns about his internal communication skills and management style.
Cleveland Browns
Inexplicably safe for now is head coach Hue Jackson, owner of a 1-27 mark as head coach of the Browns, which is the worst start for a head coach in NFL history. Apparently when you have a coach with a career winning percentage of .205 you have to keep him at all costs.
Dorsey gives the Browns the elusive “football guy” that many fans and media members have demanded. He joins the ranks of other “football guys” like Dwight Clark, George Kokinis, Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert, Joe Banner, Mike Lombardi and Ray Farmer, who all left an unforgettable mark on the franchise.
Dorsey also inherits a situation where the Browns have five selections in the first two rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft and an extensive amount of cap space, thanks to the work put in my Sashi Brown. Dorsey now has the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of others who put in the hard work needed to finally put the Browns a sustainable path to success.
The Browns will introduce Dorsey at a news conference on Friday, which will be filled with the usual empty words about taking over a proud franchise with a great fan base and an ownership group that is dedicated to winning.
The media, who have been more than willing to act as Jackson’s PR firm, and a portion of the fan base will hail it as a great day and a win for “traditional football values” over “analytical nerds,” for what that’s worth.
But we’ve all heard it before, of course, since Haslam has the patience of a five year old and can’t just stay out of the way long enough to let people do their job.
We’ve seen just about everything imaginable from Cleveland sports over the past 40 years, but we never thought we would see an owner more incompetent or ill-suited for the position than Ted Stepien, who owned the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1981 to 1983.
Then Jimmy Haslam came to town and redefined what it means to be a bad owner.
And in some ways he has given a segment of Browns fans and the media the team that they deserve.
Cleveland Browns news:
The Browns that Sashi Brown built
The Cleveland Browns announced the firing of Executive VP of Football Operations Sashi Brown. In his wake is a team others will get credit for building.
Hue Jackson insulted our intelligence while undermining Sashi Brown (cleveland.com)
"Hue Jackson sat down in front of reporters after Browns practice Thursday and started talking about the weather, once again striking the pose of an innocent bystander amidst the Browns chaos. Don’t believe it."
Sashi Brown loses job and power struggle with Hue Jackson (ohio.com)
"Sashi Brown won’t be around for the reversal of fortunes he continues to predict the Browns will experience. Owner Jimmy Haslam fired Brown on Thursday morning and announced the organization will keep coach Hue Jackson for the 2018 season. On Thursday night, the Browns hired former Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey as their new GM."
Meet your newest savior, Cleveland (si.com)
"Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Browns, struggling to compete, have decided they need a new direction. About 11 hours elapsed between Cleveland announcing the dismissal of Executive VP of Football Operations Sashi Brown and the team welcoming John Dorsey as general manager to lead football operations going forward. The former Packers director of football operations and Chiefs general manager will be formally introduced on Friday."
Browns clearly were prepared to hire John Dorsey (ESPN)
"The Cleveland Browns clearly were prepared for the Sashi Brown move Thursday. Less than 12 hours after they announced Brown’s departure from the team, John Dorsey, his replacement as general manager, had been hired."
"The quick hiring of John Dorsey as general manager of the Cleveland Browns has drawn a swift rebuke in the context of the Rooney Rule."