Jim Browns Letter to Mike Holmgren
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now i have to wonder who if any of the other greats that have played for the browns in the past are sucking off of lerner's tit. let them go on to broadcasting or selling cars. wtf, did we really need this guy in the building with an office getting paid? and what knowledge of his has ever translated to anything positive on the field?
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I will take the job that Jim Brown doesn't want for $100,000 per year. It sounds like a sweet gig to me.
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I will take the job that Jim Brown doesn't want for $100,000 per year. It sounds like a sweet gig to me.
I will take the job that Jim Brown doesn't want for $100,000 per year. It sounds like a sweet gig to me.
I think most can see why Brown is upset. However with a new head honcho I'm not sure why he's surprised things went down in this fashion. Change the big dog and a change of guard occurs and or out with the old in with the new. I'd say he should be happy he was involved this long. Either way just sounds like a bunch of butt hurt sour grapes. If he had his "old role" he'd probably be at this "Ring of Honor" which honestly was probably put together as more of a patsy for him because of his diminished role.
I thought about tossing in "The Running Man" yesterday. Good Ole Jim Brown.
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I imagine not much of Browns expertise lent itself to great results on the field.
I'm sure Holmgren and co. had their good reasons.
Doesn't matter one molecule.
On with the new Browns season !
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I have pretty much lost all respect for the old guy being he has been rather classless through this whole ordeal and has shown no respect to the fans who have always admired him...your right jim respect has to go 2 ways, i vote to not put the old bitter codger in the circle until after he is dead..
Though i still think what holmgren done was morally wrong and disrespectful to brown as well and in the end all both ended up doing is pissing many fans off and making an already questionable franchise owner look even worse..Hey mike..this isnt exactly getting the kind of media attention or image we want to see attached to the club...Cleveland Browns czar throws grandpa brown down the stairs but gramps crawls back up to give his image a black eye before saying goodbye...hehehehe
I have pretty much lost all respect for the old guy being he has been rather classless through this whole ordeal and has shown no respect to the fans who have always admired him...your right jim respect has to go 2 ways, i vote to not put the old bitter codger in the circle until after he is dead..
Though i still think what holmgren done was morally wrong and disrespectful to brown as well and in the end all both ended up doing is pissing many fans off and making an already questionable franchise owner look even worse..Hey mike..this isnt exactly getting the kind of media attention or image we want to see attached to the club...Cleveland Browns czar throws grandpa brown down the stairs but gramps crawls back up to give his image a black eye before saying goodbye...hehehehe
Yeah, Holmgren made one mistake- he should have told Lerner to "fire" JB. And if Jimmie was "cut" to $100k, that must mean Randy was certainly paying him more! I think most of us could eke out a meager retirement on say a Quarter million a year.
Have to figure Holmie had seen enough of JBs current act, and was getting a negative vibe from it. And I'll give you a +1 Gips that this makes Lerner look like a major pansy.
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What? No comments from Al Sharpton or Jesse? Its not like Holmgren did away with the brown stadium mustard or anything.
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Brown Mustard???
Now that should rile up Al and Jesse....Brown Mustard...Why isn't it mustard of color??
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn. -
Brown Mustard???
Now that should rile up Al and Jesse....Brown Mustard...Why isn't it mustard of color??
Brown Mustard???
Now that should rile up Al and Jesse....Brown Mustard...Why isn't it mustard of color??
Now that made me spew some Rasin Bran; thanks for the good belly laugh this morning
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http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/...ont_attend.html
Here is the letter, completely unedited:
Mike,
I would hope that you would take the time to read my agreement with the Clevelend Browns. I had no contract, but I was asked to write a job description so that my duties would be clear.
That job description included two things that I think are important. As Executive Advisor to the owner, my job was to use my intelligence, and my logic to advise Mr. Lerner. The second most important thing to me was a clause in that agreement that stated that I answered to noone except Randy Lerner. These two thing were highly important to me because I truly believed, with my educational background, having been a Cleveland Brown for 9 yrs, and having a pretty good knowledge of football, that I could contibute in a valuable way to the organization.
When you called me for a meeting in your office, there was no conversation about that agreement, no conversation about my duties, no conversation about what I felt, no conversation about my relationship with the players, no conversation about my relationship with the coaches, no conversation about my relationship with the head coach, and no conversation about my community work. Ultimately there was no conversation about anything that I felt was related to my job.
Your ultimatum to me was that you would offer me the opportunity of being that of the greeter, that of a mascot, that of a person that would represent special events by his physical presence, and for those things, I would receive a salary of $100,000. All of those things that you offered me would be controlled by you.
After that 10 minute meeting, I went to my office with a feeling that I was just fired by the Cleveland Browns, because in my mind, there would be no way on this earth that you would expect me to go against everything that I’ve ever stood for in my whole life.
Not wanting to get into a public debate, I left my office and went home. I never spoke to the media, or any of my friends at the Browns, because I truly didn’t know what to say to them. I thought that was the reponsibility of the Browns. I wrote you and Randy a note, and said I did not accept that proposed position, but if I could do anything meaningful for the organization, I would consider it. I took that position, because of my respect for the Lerner family, and everyone that I had worked with in the Cleveland Browns organization.
I was able to study your press conference and found your statements to be consistent in the way that you value me, and I observed the comments of the key players that sat by your side, and here was the impression I got: Your most powerful statemnt about me was that, and I must laugh, one monkey don’t stop the show. The two players that were with you, one of them made the statement that he was overwhelmed to be honored, and the other started talking about a subject that was highly important, and that was the pension plan, and the improvement that he would hope would happen, but stated that he was there to discuss the Ring of Honor.
I was happy to hear Joe DeLamielleure bring up the pension plan, because right now Mike, I am working with everything I have in my power to be an advocate for a better pension plan and health care services for all the retired players. If you, in your position of tremendous power with the Cleveland Browns, would become an advocate of those two goals, you and I could walk side by side.
But in my conclusion, I’ve never danced in the end zone, I always gave the ball to the referee, so you should know I don’t dance. Also Mike, I don’t hang out on the Westside of town. I’m an Eastside guy. I play my golf at Highland Golf Course. I don’t go to the Hall of Fame ceremonies, except on occasions, like when Gene Hickerson was inducted, and I felt very proud to be with Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Kelly in showing our respect for his great contribution, and for helping us become great players. I don’t have any trophies in my home on display. I don’t claim to be the best at anything, and I emphatically do not need validation from any man, so I will not participate in your Ring of Honor.
Mike, there’s only one thing that I control in life, and that’s being a man. So let me end with a little humor, because as you say, one monkey don’t stop the show, and as I say “Willie Lynch missed a few of us”, and there will be no Buck Dancing.
From #32
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/...ont_attend.html
Here is the letter, completely unedited:
Mike,
I would hope that you would take the time to read my agreement with the Clevelend Browns. I had no contract, but I was asked to write a job description so that my duties would be clear.
That job description included two things that I think are important. As Executive Advisor to the owner, my job was to use my intelligence, and my logic to advise Mr. Lerner. The second most important thing to me was a clause in that agreement that stated that I answered to noone except Randy Lerner. These two thing were highly important to me because I truly believed, with my educational background, having been a Cleveland Brown for 9 yrs, and having a pretty good knowledge of football, that I could contibute in a valuable way to the organization.
When you called me for a meeting in your office, there was no conversation about that agreement, no conversation about my duties, no conversation about what I felt, no conversation about my relationship with the players, no conversation about my relationship with the coaches, no conversation about my relationship with the head coach, and no conversation about my community work. Ultimately there was no conversation about anything that I felt was related to my job.
Your ultimatum to me was that you would offer me the opportunity of being that of the greeter, that of a mascot, that of a person that would represent special events by his physical presence, and for those things, I would receive a salary of $100,000. All of those things that you offered me would be controlled by you.
After that 10 minute meeting, I went to my office with a feeling that I was just fired by the Cleveland Browns, because in my mind, there would be no way on this earth that you would expect me to go against everything that I’ve ever stood for in my whole life.
Not wanting to get into a public debate, I left my office and went home. I never spoke to the media, or any of my friends at the Browns, because I truly didn’t know what to say to them. I thought that was the reponsibility of the Browns. I wrote you and Randy a note, and said I did not accept that proposed position, but if I could do anything meaningful for the organization, I would consider it. I took that position, because of my respect for the Lerner family, and everyone that I had worked with in the Cleveland Browns organization.
I was able to study your press conference and found your statements to be consistent in the way that you value me, and I observed the comments of the key players that sat by your side, and here was the impression I got: Your most powerful statemnt about me was that, and I must laugh, one monkey don’t stop the show. The two players that were with you, one of them made the statement that he was overwhelmed to be honored, and the other started talking about a subject that was highly important, and that was the pension plan, and the improvement that he would hope would happen, but stated that he was there to discuss the Ring of Honor.
I was happy to hear Joe DeLamielleure bring up the pension plan, because right now Mike, I am working with everything I have in my power to be an advocate for a better pension plan and health care services for all the retired players. If you, in your position of tremendous power with the Cleveland Browns, would become an advocate of those two goals, you and I could walk side by side.
But in my conclusion, I’ve never danced in the end zone, I always gave the ball to the referee, so you should know I don’t dance. Also Mike, I don’t hang out on the Westside of town. I’m an Eastside guy. I play my golf at Highland Golf Course. I don’t go to the Hall of Fame ceremonies, except on occasions, like when Gene Hickerson was inducted, and I felt very proud to be with Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Kelly in showing our respect for his great contribution, and for helping us become great players. I don’t have any trophies in my home on display. I don’t claim to be the best at anything, and I emphatically do not need validation from any man, so I will not participate in your Ring of Honor.
Mike, there’s only one thing that I control in life, and that’s being a man. So let me end with a little humor, because as you say, one monkey don’t stop the show, and as I say “Willie Lynch missed a few of us”, and there will be no Buck Dancing.
From #32
To me JB was always a childhood hero. The best of the best, someone that made the Browns one of the great teams of the era. To bad time has made him a sad and lost old man. To be honored by your peers for all time should be one of the greatest moment of your life. JB I have your jersey number and will always admire your football greatness but not you as a person. Hope you reconsider attending the ring of honor day. If you can't even pencil it in on your "busy schedule" then just fade away and stay there.
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Brown Mustard???
Now that should rile up Al and Jesse....Brown Mustard...Why isn't it mustard of color??
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Zombo said:
Brown has the right to say what he wants and do what he wants, it's part of what makes America great.And regardless of everything else ... he is the greatest football player in NFL history.
Zombo
Absolutely, he has the right to say what he thinks and i admire that he is still a fighter and takes no crap, which is exactly what holmgren dumped on him imho...holmy didnt do his homework before making a rash, unpopular with fans and ultimately unfair decision and lerner being the wimp he is let it transpire...
But just as Mr. Brown has the right to say what he thinks he also has the right to be judged by others by what he says...its a 2 way street and i for one didnt realize how much of a manchild jimmy is if he dont get his way and how little appreciation he actually has for the fans who have always upheld him..
Yeah he needs no validation he is the greatest football player of all time but not the greatest person (nor does he claim to be), his presence at the ceremony would have been extra special to the fans and the city of cleveland and he could care less about that...
He is a principled man in his own right and he didnt sell out his beliefs and didnt let holmgren buy him out..i respect that even if i hate it.
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