Jimmy Haslam: ‘Unequivocally, Hue Jackson was never paid to lose game’
Hue Jackson alleged that he was paid to lose games by the Cleveland Browns, but owner Jimmy Haslam emphatically denied that notion.
Former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sent shockwaves throughout the NFL when he decided to sue the league, Dolphins, Giants, and Broncos for alleged racism in the hiring process. Flores stated that he was offered $100K by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross for every loss back in 2019 in order to ensure a better draft pick.
This has been an issue in the NFL for a long time and Flores should be commended for his bravery to stand up for injustice and take action. He acknowledged that this could set his career back, but that didn’t matter to him.
Someone who backed Flores was Hue Jackson, former Cleveland Browns head coach, who was at the helm when the team went 1-31. Jackson claims he was incentivized for losing games and that Haslam was pleased with losing games, but Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam vehemently denied those accusations.
"“Unequivocally, Hue Jackson was never paid to lose games,” Haslam said. “That is an absolute falsehood. And it’s also an absolute falsehood that I laughed while we were losing. Most people who know me would say, ‘That’s not how Jimmy would react to losing.’"
Haslam continued to fire from off the top rope, similar to a “Macho Man” Randy Savage elbow drop, by saying Jackson is “masterful at pointing fingers, but never accepting blame.”
"“Hue Jackson has never ever accepted any responsibility for our record during that time period,” Haslam said in an exclusive interview. “He’s been masterful at pointing fingers but has never accepted any blame. I have accepted a ton of blame, and rightfully so."
“There are a lot of things I could’ve done better. Hue never accepted blame for one thing,” Haslam said.
Jackson went on to claim that it “was a good number” that he was given to lose games. He then said he never understood the Browns plan, despite asking for clarity all of the time.
Haslam shared a different version of the story, claiming that he never attempted to help someone be successful as much as he did Jackson.
“I can’t think of any individual that I’ve worked with over the past 45 years that I spent as much time trying to help be successful as I did Hue Jackson,” Haslam said.
Jackson finished the 2018 campaign 2-5-1 before he was fired. Ironically enough, the team finished 5-3 the rest of the way, seemingly putting an end to that notion from Jackson. At the end of the day, he just wasn’t that great of a coach and never took accountability, even dating back to his days as the Raiders head coach, where he constantly blamed his players.
In that 2018 season, Jackson played Carlos Hyde, who was a serviceable NFL running back, over rookie Nick Chubb, who missed out on 1,000 yards by four yards. He started in nine of 16 games.
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Hue Jackson simply was not a good enough coach and now he wants to claim he was incentivized to lose all because of the lawsuit Brian Flores filed against the NFL. At no point did I ever see any validity in what Jackson was claiming and according to Jimmy Haslam, neither did he.