Finally Another Owner Confirms Mike Brown's Laziness

[ShulaSteakhouse]

I liken his love of bird watching to how he runs a franchise...sits around waiting for things to fly in and appear on his bird feeder, until he sees something that intrigues him.

[Ickey44]

With the sweetheart NFL revenue-sharing deal, even Joe Wrong and a staff of potty-trained monkeys could run this business profitably.

In essence, his profit is largely determined by the effort made by the league office and the other 31 teams.

In all honestly if Mikey wasn't contributing to the revenue I think the other owners would be doing something about it, don't you?

I've never seen any figures, but I continually see things in articles about Cincinnati being a VERY profitable team.

I think as long as the Bengals are mediocre at best and continue to make money, the majority of owners aren't going to care what he does.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

In all honestly if Mikey wasn't contributing to the revenue I think the other owners would be doing something about it, don't you?

They do complain about it, but with an active CBA they can't do anything about it. We'll see if they use the new CBA as an opportunity to change things. In fact, that very topic was one of the primary issues that splintered the owners during the *last* CBA, which is part of the reason that the players pwned them.

I've never seen any figures, but I continually see things in articles about Cincinnati being a VERY profitable team.

Question is, is that because the Bengals' revenue is higher, or because their costs are lower? I'll wager quite a bit that the difference is on the cost side. He doesn't seem to have any particular revenue streams that aren't available to other teams. However, he has a ridiculous stadium deal and he spends little on non-player costs. That helps maintain the profit.

I think as long as the Bengals are mediocre at best and continue to make money, the majority of owners aren't going to care what he does.

Depends on the ownership mix going forward. Presumably, the richer franchises share their money and split TV contracts evenly for a reason - namely, that parity is good for all. They likely resent seeing a fellow owner pocket the cash. I wouldn't be surprised if the next CBA has some provisions preventing owners from taking the money and running.

[Pidge]

I wouldn't be surprised if the next CBA has some provisions preventing owners from taking the money and running.

Provisions already exist. As long as Mikey spends at least 75% of the cap on player salaries, he's golden. And to be fair to him, he more than does that. Whether he spends the money wisely is open to debate.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

I wouldn't be surprised if the next CBA has some provisions preventing owners from taking the money and running.

Provisions already exist. As long as Mikey spends at least 75% of the cap on player salaries, he's golden. And to be fair to him, he more than does that. Whether he spends the money wisely is open to debate.

That may not be enough going forward. Interestingly, PFT has a story on Jerry Jones throwing down against Minnesota as a large metro area that's a revenue sharing recipient. Looks like Goodell has some work to do on circling the wagons as far as the owners are concerned. His main rant was against large areas that don't fund stadiums, but he's complained about Brown before as well.

The next CBA could be as much of a clusterfudge as the last one as far as owners are concerned.

[Pidge]

I wouldn't be surprised if the next CBA has some provisions preventing owners from taking the money and running.

Provisions already exist. As long as Mikey spends at least 75% of the cap on player salaries, he's golden. And to be fair to him, he more than does that. Whether he spends the money wisely is open to debate.

That may not be enough going forward. Interestingly, PFT has a story on Jerry Jones throwing down against Minnesota as a large metro area that's a revenue sharing recipient. Looks like Goodell has some work to do on circling the wagons as far as the owners are concerned. His main rant was against large areas that don't fund stadiums, but he's complained about Brown before as well.

The next CBA could be as much of a clusterfudge as the last one as far as owners are concerned.

What might they do? Increase the minimum required spent on salaries? No idea what Mikey does spend on average but we have what, about 10M spare in cap most yrs, which is sometimes used up in injury picks ups etc? That's over 90% easily. I'm not against changes or whatever but interested how radical the changes might be. Not that I think these changes will increase the Bengals' chances of success.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

What might they do? Increase the minimum required spent on salaries? No idea what Mikey does spend on average but we have what, about 10M spare in cap most yrs, which is sometimes used up in injury picks ups etc? That's over 90% easily. I'm not against changes or whatever but interested how radical the changes might be. Not that I think these changes will increase the Bengals' chances of success.

There's a lot they *could* do. They'll haggle over how much money is shared and from what sources. I do agree that nothing will increase the Bengals' chances for success. But the richer owners could decide to be less generous in terms of sharing if they don't feel they're getting a return on their 'investment' in teams like the Bengals.

What I don't want is for ownership to be fractured to the point that there's a strike/lockout because they can't deal effectively with the players' union.

[blueridge]

I've always said a lack of true effort is the major problem with Mike Brown and his cohorts/family. It isn't that he isn't "a football guy" or necessarily incompetent, he's just cheap AND lazy. All I've ever asked for is real effort, I can forgive losing or "bad luck" if someone's making a comparable effort to everyone else, to win.

For instance, when you lose 3 starting offensive lineman within a year's time, and have a fragile franchise QB with one winning season going into his 7th year, you don't sit back and rely on scrap heap guys like Kyle Cook, a couple of 4th/5th round draft picks who are rookies or in their 2nd year (who aren't showing much), and an average guy playing out of position to shore it up. You get off your ass and sign some someone solid or make trades, or at least make sure you get your #6 draft pick in on time. All I saw, again, was minimal effort to get better there, despite the ooing and awwwing over signing Tank, Roy and Coles - 2 of which no one else wanted any ways, and the other to make up for the loss of TJ.

2009 Owner Ratings

Yahoo

31. Cincinnati Bengals Mike Brown It's hard to put Brown's philosophy in its proper context, but here's a loaded attempt: He's the 21st century's answer to a Communist Party bigwig in the Soviet Union's heyday -- gaming a system steeped in shared revenues for his own benefit while setting new standards among his peers for brazen laziness. Says one owner: "Anything that's going to force him to do any extra work, he speaks out against it."

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Those who are tired of Mike Brown bashing, use your freedom of choice to ignore. My contention is that he's not just incompetent or cheap, he's just plain lazy - which is even worse in my book.

Carson Palmer isn't fragile and it isn't fair to dismiss Kyle Cook as just some scrap heap guy. He's done very well so far and is a big improvement over Eric Ghiaciuc. By the way, Jeff Saturday was a scrap heap guy and became a great center and the stalwart in the OL for some very good Colts teams. In fact, it sounds as if you are ripping our OL simply as a tiresome exercise to denigrate Mike Brown. Moreover, why in the hell would you give any credence to an unattributed quote from some other "owner" or rely on it to make the case that Brown is lazy. For instance, what did he speak out against because it would allegedly "force him to do any extra work"? There are plenty of reasons to criticize Mike Brown without resorting to a dumbass argument based on some anonymous and unsubstantiated cheap shot. It doesn't make the case against Brown for "brazen laziness". Nor does your poorly thought out argument concerning the Bengals' O-line. You don't have to be a fan of Mike Brown to conclude that you simply don't know what you're talking about.

[HoosierCat]

Just to try to add a little clarity, reading the quote in context shows it does, indeed, refer to his resistance to do or approve of additional marketing/revenue-generating work, while at the same time always looking for others to put more into the revenue-sharing pot. It has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of effort Brown puts into the product on the field.

31. Cincinnati Bengals – Mike Brown It’s hard to put Brown’s philosophy in its proper context, but here’s a loaded attempt: He’s the 21st century’s answer to a Communist Party bigwig in the Soviet Union’s heyday – gaming a system steeped in shared revenues for his own benefit while setting new standards among his peers for brazen laziness. Says one owner: “Anything that’s going to force him to do any extra work, he speaks out against it.”

In recent months, Brown voiced opposition to the league’s moves to allow teams to cut sponsorship deals with state lotteries and hard-liquor providers and to sell advertising decals on practice jerseys. When Saints owner Tom Benson asked for a waiver on club-seat revenues to help fund improvements at the Superdome – part of an admirable transformation that has pushed him away from his usual spot at or near the bottom of these rankings – Brown was the lone Grinch in the meeting room. “It’s a great American story, Tom Benson defying the skeptics and keeping the Saints in New Orleans, and [expletive] Mike Brown speaks out against it,” the same owner says. “Meanwhile, the guy has the best stadium deal ever. It was completely built for him and he has no operating expenses. He probably makes more money than any of us.”

Nonetheless, Brown repeatedly advocates for additional handouts from his larger-market peers via revenue-sharing and spends as little of it as he can get away with on employees. Sometimes it pays off – I guess. After months of low-balling sixth overall draft pick Andre Smith(notes), the big tackle caved and took a below-market deal at the tail end of training camp. Then again, Smith suffered a stress fracture in his foot two days after reporting. Perhaps the football gods have a sense of humor.