5 reasons Cleveland Browns gig is better than Cowboys
The Haslams are the most improved NFL ownership team.
Next time there is a press release from the Browns ownership, please read how it is signed. It will say “Dee and Jimmy Haslam,” not “Jimmy and Dee Haslam.” There is a reason for this, although much of the national media does not get it.
No offense to Mr. Haslam, but Dee is the organizational genius of the family, and has provided the rational decision-making to go along with her husband’s energy and enthusiasm, and they are now making wise hiring decisions, whereas before they were decisive but not necessarily wise decisions.
Do not think that Dee Haslam is just Jimmy’s wife. Had Pilot Flying not been a part of their family, Dee, as executive producer and chief executive officer of RIVR Media, would have made the family millionaires many times over. RIVR Media was nominated eight times for Emmy awards for work on reality TV productions Whale Wars and Trading Spaces. Anyone whose organization gets nominated eight times for an Emmy has to be a genius.
What Browns fans need to understand is that Dee stepped down from her successful career to augment the sports enterprises (namely the Browns and Columbus Crew) which needed better organizational planning. She has helped to clarify the values of the organization and brought in the best Ivy League football brains to create long term plans and call the shots for the Browns.
No more are the Browns going build through the draft for six months and then start trading away draft picks. They still make mistakes and wind up with players that do not fit the system, but much less than before (a particular fan favorite was selecting 3-4 personnel when the team played the 4-3 defense and vice versa).
Jimmy Haslam never failed the fans, never flinched at writing the checks that needed to be written. The main fault we can hang on him is really being overly aggressive. Because of the team’s losing ways, he felt that he had to act quickly and decisively to hire a coach or general manager and even assistant coaches.
He helped bring premier talent like Butch Davis, Norv Turner, John Dorsey, Gregg Williams, Todd Haley, Joe Woods, Bill Callahan and others. Regardless of your opinion of their performance, these were very prominent experts in their field, and were regarded as superstars when they were hired, and they were not cheap.
Jimmy Haslam never blinked, though maybe he should have.
What Dee has helped to do is to put a system in place to establish the Browns’ identity and get pieces of the puzzle that actually fit. For example, she has asked why the team did not see that players like Josh Gordon, John Manziel, Justin Gilbert, Greg Robinson and Antonio Callaway were unable to reach their potential due to substance abuse? And why do we choose to repeat the mistake time after time after time?
Accordingly, the team hired scout Kathleen Wood, who also has experience as a private investigator to research these issues to finally avoid hiring dope fiends. Or, if despite best efforts it turns out that someone has a problem, get them the best possible evaluation and help before just giving up on them.
This analyst believes that it is working, and that Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski were the right hires. The salary cap is back in shape and the Browns are running percentage plays on offense.
The Cowboys have a similar situation in that Stephen Jones is taking increasing involvement in the operations of the team, standing in for his more famous father. But people still refer to Jerry Jones as the owner as if Stephen did not exist.
No question, Jerry made a huge mistake by getting rid of Jimmy Johnson, who led the Cowboys to two Super Bowls. Yes, Jerry made his point by winning one more with Barry Switzer as his coach, but Jimmy Johnson was a Hall of Fame coach and should have been allowed to give Jerry more championships. But like Art Modell firing Paul Brown, Jerry Jones had to prove he was a genius.
He never learned otherwise. Some owners learn. Some do not.
It is reminiscent of the feuds between George Steinbrenner and Reggie Jackson. Finally George sent Reggie away, but then he woke up one morning and said to himself, “What have I done? Reggie gave me what wanted in life — World Championships!” Steinbrenner admitted he made a mistake and was able to readjust his priorities.
The Haslams made every mistake in the book learning on the job. The smartest thing he ever did was to wake up one morning and realize that he married up. Accordingly, Dee is setting up the organizational process and re-establishing the Browns priorities. In this writer’s opinion, it’s working and they are improving. Trust the process.
Stephen Jones and Jerry Jones are sharp operators. It is a matter of opinion, of course, and yes this author is a homer, but the Haslams have the edge over the Joneses at this point. Perhaps the final point is community involvement, and here the Browns lead the NFL, and always have.