Cleveland Browns: Dee and Jimmy Haslam are winners in MLS

If the Haslams can take the Crew to a title, why not the Cleveland Browns?

Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam have won it all in Major League Soccer. It doesn’t prove that they are going to win it all in the NFL, but you cannot say that they are automatic losers, either. Evidently, they do know how to win.

So congratulations to the Columbus Crew, their fans, the Haslam Sports Group, co-owner Pete Edwards, the City of Columbus, and everyone in the state of Ohio.  This is a great day.

The Cleveland Browns sent out a congratulatory tweet, as well they might.

https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1337965354316931074?s=20

This writer has been saying for two years that Dee Haslam is the missing ingredient because she is the one behind the scenes who builds organizations, the CEO of eight-time Emmy-nominated RIVR Media.

Jimmy is the super extrovert of the family whose overwhelming drive and determination to succeed has worked against him on occasion. He’s counterbalanced by his much more methodical and systematic wife. The smartest decision he ever made was to marry Dee, and the second smartest decision was to actually start listening to her. The third smartest decision was to allow her to become the CEO of Haslam Sports Group.

Once she helped the Browns organization to focus on its identity and to clarify the roles and boundaries between ownership, the front office, and the coaching staff, suddenly people started doing their jobs and doing them well.

For those who are not familiar with the Columbus Crew story, the franchise was a charter member of Major League soccer in 1996. Yet it was only three years ago, in October 2017, when Crew fans received the news that the Crew were planning to move to Austin, Texas. If there is one thing that infuriates Browns fans, it is relocating a franchise. Well, forget that.

The city, public officials and fans, formed a group with a slogan, “Save the Crew!” 12,000 fans signed a pledge to buy tickets if the team would stay in Columbus. Even opposing fans and players supported the movement, realizing that moving the team was bad for the league, and unfaithful owners are just bad for sports. The group explored different options, and finally found an investment group that included Dee and Jimmy Haslam and Crew team doctor Pete Edwards. The Crew was saved for the city of Columbus. They are really heroes of tremendous proportions throughout the entire state.  Now, only two years later, they are champions. Unbelievable.

To win the cup, the Crew had to get past the Seattle Sounders FC. They used two goals from Lucas Zelarayan, who had been obtained in the off-season for a club-record transfer fee of $7 million; plus a goal from Derrick Etienne Jr. to beat the Sounders 3-0 for the team’s second MLS Cup.

Well done, Crew. Well, done Columbus, Well done, Dee and Jimmy and the rest of Haslam Sports Group and Dr. Edwards. It’s a fantastic achievement for Ohio sports and can only lead to greater things in the future. So how about it Browns? The Crew has their professional championship, so maybe you need one too!