The Cleveland Browns hit a milestone on Sunday by winning their first game of the season. The team hit another one on Tuesday as Jimmy Haslam was unanimously approved as the new owner of the team by the NFL.
"It's a great challenge,'' Haslam told The Plain Dealer in August. "There's nothing like the NFL. There really isn't. I didn't do it for the personal recognition, but I told a friend of mine this weekend, and we've lived in Knoxville all of our lives, it's not a huge town and we're a fairly big player there. I'm way more famous in Cleveland after four weeks than I was in Knoxville."
Haslam takes over for Randy Lerner, who he purchased the team from for $1 billion in July. The vote was considered to be a formality, with the teams voting 32-0 to approve.
"He's going to be great for the Cleveland Browns," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told The Plain Dealer this week. "He's got all the right skills to be an effective influence on the NFL.''
The new ownership will also bring new changes to the team.
On Tuesday Haslam announced that Joe Banner, a former Eagles executive, will become the team's CEO and president and that current president Mike Holmgren will stay with the team for now and will retire at the end of the season.
According to ESPN.com, "Haslem also will close his deal to buy the Browns with Randy Lerner on Oct. 25."
Haslam is the former CEO of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain and was a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2008 before selling his share of the team to buy the Browns. He purchased 70 percent of the team, while Lerner will retain 30 percent until it reverts four years after the closing date.
Holmgren was originally hired by Cleveland in January of 2010 to help steer the franchise in a successful direction. According to ESPN.com, since Holmgren was hired, the team has had the second worst win percentage in the NFL with a .236 clip.
Since the Browns returned to the NFL and became a franchise in 1999, the team has only made one playoff appearance and has posted a 69-146 record.
Holmgren hand-picked Browns head coach Pat Shurmur and oversaw the drafting of rookies Brandon Weeden and Trent Richardson.
Those three decisions were the biggest made by Holmgren over his tenure as team president.
During the lead up to the 2012 NFL draft, Holmgren and the Browns attempted to trade up for the No. 2 pick from the St. Louis Rams, who were planning to trade it due to having a franchise quarterback. With Andrew Luck being the presumed No. 1 pick by the Colts, the No. 2 pick would give the team a chance to draft dynamic Heisman trophy winner Robert Griffin III.
The team made a strong offer of at least three first round picks, but the Rams opted to trade the pick to the Washington Redskins.
Weeden is a skilled player with a big upside, but he still is a 29-year-old rookie. Holmgren and the Browns now have to wonder what would have happened if they could have drafted the younger and more exciting Griffin, who has done very well with Washington so far in 2012.
With the new ownership, unless Shurmur has a great second half of the season, chances are he will not return, allowing the franchise to start fresh with a new ownership group. Shurmur's overall record with the Browns is 5-17.
General manager Tom Heckert, who was also brought in by Holmgren, is not certain to be retained by Haslam.
According to ESPN.com, "Banner left the Eagles in June. He was with them since 1994 and was team president when he resigned."
Lerner was criticized by fans and reporters for not taking more of a hands-on approach with the team. That sentiment was also echoed by the players.
"I met Randy when I came in here,'' Weeden said to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "That was my only interaction. All the stuff was going on once we got here, as far as him selling the team and stuff. "Mr. Haslam has been around a lot, I've talked to him quite a few times. He's a first-class guy. I think everybody's really excited about him taking over. He's obviously a really savvy guy and he loves football. He's a good guy to have on our side.''
Although the Browns have not been a successful franchise in recent years, the team has a deep history.
Before the original Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens, the team had one of the best players of all time in running back Jim Brown and also won four NFL Championships in the 1950s and 60s, including two in a row in 1954 and 1955.
A new owner could help revitalize the fan base, which is considered one of the most passionate in the league, and a new executive should be able to add talent and depth to a team that is short on it apart from some promising rookies.
The Cleveland fan base is there for the taking; it'll be up to the new owners to right the ship now.
