The Browns will be sold. It’s a visceral reminder that no matter how much time, attention, and money we fans invest in our team, it all dwells within a high-stakes corporate framework that transcends the prerogative of the hoi polloi.
News of Randy Lerner’s imminent deal to surrender the franchise to Pilot Corporation CEO James “Jimmy” Haslam III hit hard yesterday, triggering in me a confusion of thoughts and feelings.
The gut reaction was “uh-oh.” This came from knowing that, whatever Lerner’s performance failings, he at least seemed like a Browns fan who appreciated the unique connection between the team and its city and fans. I recalled the great Cleveland Scene insider piece from earlier this year, “The Custodian.”
A rereading yielded no sense of a man who wanted out. Indeed, “he would be making a permanent home in the land of his birth.” Only one small clue jumped out in retrospect:
He says he’s taking the “AL” uniform tribute to his dad off the jerseys after next season. “It will have been ten years.”
Turns out the significance of ten years lied underneath the patch, as revealed yesterday:
That is the expiration date of a 10-year moratorium on selling the team, a moratorium Al Lerner asked of his family before he passed away in October of 2002, according to a source familiar with the inner workings of the Browns front office.
So did Randy Lerner truly see his mission as a devoted custodian of a civic institution, or as a loyal son fulfilling a promise to his dying father? Really, it doesn’t much matter to me, as long as the Browns stay in Cleveland, an apparent precondition for this sale.
Lerner, in my view, was a reluctant legatee who tried to keep faith with his father, family, and hometown team, but his true heart and mind were not suited for the job. It’s better that he has come to that honest reckoning.
The implications of new ownership for the Browns’ organization — particularly president Mike Holmgren — await further visibility. But it’s clear that 2012 will be an especially pivotal year for many a Cleveland career. It will probably be the last for Holmgren and several others.
Though not tied to the ownership change, Phil Dawson, the enduring, venerable last link to the Browns’ rebirth, will almost certainly move on not long after Lerner’s exodus. That’s quite a kicker.
