Mike Brown Article

[WhoDey42]

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=4946

As always, Geoff Hobson has another great article on Bengals.com. This one is about Mike Brown. It's a very good read. He deserves a lot of credit for not only hiring Marvin and letting him take control, but also keeping the Bengals in Cincinnati (it also says he talked his dad into bringing a team to Cincinnati instead of Seattle). I'm not saying that he was perfect during all these years, he's made some stupid decisions that really hurt the franchise, but he does love the Bengals and Cincinnati and he's turned it around.... of course all this is easy to say now that we're in the playoffs again.

check out what he did for this soldier's family...

Master Sgt. Michael Hiester was recently featured on the American Hero segment on the CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer. Hiester, killed by a land mine while serving in Afghanistan, had told his wife the only thing he wanted for Christmas was a Bengals jersey. Brown sent a box to his family in Indiana with a Chad Johnson jersey and two other jerseys for his two children.

[buck3y3d]

Mike Brown may be a good person, but he was and still may be a horrible owner.

He has no PR skills and little business sense. Although, he did figure out how to make the city pay for virtually everything so that the team could stay in Cincinnati (good business move, bad PR move). His daughter, Katie, is a very smart business person too, and I think she'll run the club well in the future. However, 15 years of losing is absolutely awful. We had talented players over that period, but couldn't sign free agents or some draft picks. It was not due to the stadium or the coaches, it was due to mike brown.

I don't know if the site is still up, but there used to be a website called

ignore the hyperlink, it is not the same site (firemikebrown.com was the site).

[WhoDey42]

I'm 100% aware that Mike Brown ran the franchise into the ground for those 15 years. But, I don't know what happened, but he finally realized that he needed new blood in the organization. He brought in the best person to do it and he stepped back.

[Stripes]

Sure, I'll give Mike Brown part of the credit for the turnaround. Every single person that has been involved in any way deserves credit. Corey Dillon and Takeo Spikes deserve credit for skipping town. Dick LeBeau deserves credit for sucking enough to get fired and cause the hiring of Marvin.

A lot of credit needs to go to Katie Blackburn, I think she has played a huge part in this as well.

[AMC]

Great article. One of Hob's best...

Need to do another article on a big part of the renaissance of the Bengals---Katie Blackburn!!!!!!!!!

I think she really kicked some sense into Mike Brown.

Loyalty can be a two-edged sword. What makes for great character can lead to bad business decisions.

TY Katie for making your father see the light!

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

Mike Brown may be a good person, but he was and still may be a horrible owner.

1000000000% WRONG

Mike Brown is a good person, and he is a fantastic OWNER. He is loyal to the city, loyal to his players, and he wants to win. He's willing to do anything for someone in need. That's exactly what you want in an OWNER. Would you rather have the dufus Modell who packed up and left at the first opportunity and then sold the team for cash? Would you rather have an owner like Jerry Jones who cares ONLY about how much money he can make? The owner down in New Orleans who can't run a franchise, and at the first sign of true adversity tries to turn it into an opportunity to move to a more profitable city? Or perhaps you'd like the Ford Family who do a great job building cars, but could give two s**ts about football and only use the Lions to advertise their family?

Now, is he a good general manager? No, that is what Mike Brown is not good at. As for PR, the only reason he's bad at PR is because the team lost for a LONG time.

Great article. One of Hob's best...

Need to do another article on a big part of the renaissance of the Bengals---Katie Blackburn!!!!!!!!!

I think she really kicked some sense into Mike Brown.

Loyalty can be a two-edged sword. What makes for great character can lead to bad business decisions.

TY Katie for making your father see the light!

Completely Urban myth by the way. This rumor came about because of the sheer hatred for Mike Brown. Noone would admit HE made the right decision, so it HAD to be someone else. Did he talk to Katie about it? Yes. Did he talk to Jim Anderson about it? Yes. Did he talk to Nancy about it? Yes. Did he talk to Troy about it? Yes. He talked to all his advisors and he made the decision.

[The Brew Man]

Im not ready to join the MB fan club yet now. I mean this is the man we despised for many years. He made a great move in hiring Marvin, but he made plenty of dumb moves through the years as well as many have mentioned. He is not a great owner in my opinon, and probably never will be. However, his legacy is improving, and Im open to see where things go....

[HoosierCat]

Great article. One of Hob's best...

Need to do another article on a big part of the renaissance of the Bengals---Katie Blackburn!!!!!!!!!

I think she really kicked some sense into Mike Brown.

Loyalty can be a two-edged sword. What makes for great character can lead to bad business decisions.

TY Katie for making your father see the light!

Completely Urban myth by the way. This rumor came about because of the sheer hatred for Mike Brown. Noone would admit HE made the right decision, so it HAD to be someone else. Did he talk to Katie about it? Yes. Did he talk to Jim Anderson about it? Yes. Did he talk to Nancy about it? Yes. Did he talk to Troy about it? Yes. He talked to all his advisors and he made the decision.

Not quite accurate. By the time of the 2002 debacle, Katie and Troy Blackburn were already deeply involved in running the team; after all, poppa Mikey was 66. The two have become even more involved, and Mike less so, since. All the HC interviews were conducted with Mike, Katie and Troy present, and the hiring decision was made jointly. Obviously, it would have been ridiculous for Brown to pass over control of the team and then saddle Katie and Troy with a coach they didn't want. Had the Blackburns been opposed to Lewis, he would not be coach today.

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

Great article. One of Hob's best...

Need to do another article on a big part of the renaissance of the Bengals---Katie Blackburn!!!!!!!!!

I think she really kicked some sense into Mike Brown.

Loyalty can be a two-edged sword. What makes for great character can lead to bad business decisions.

TY Katie for making your father see the light!

Completely Urban myth by the way. This rumor came about because of the sheer hatred for Mike Brown. Noone would admit HE made the right decision, so it HAD to be someone else. Did he talk to Katie about it? Yes. Did he talk to Jim Anderson about it? Yes. Did he talk to Nancy about it? Yes. Did he talk to Troy about it? Yes. He talked to all his advisors and he made the decision.

Not quite accurate. By the time of the 2002 debacle, Katie and Troy Blackburn were already deeply involved in running the team; after all, poppa Mikey was 66. The two have become even more involved, and Mike less so, since. All the HC interviews were conducted with Mike, Katie and Troy present, and the hiring decision was made jointly. Obviously, it would have been ridiculous for Brown to pass over control of the team and then saddle Katie and Troy with a coach they didn't want. Had the Blackburns been opposed to Lewis, he would not be coach today.

You may say that, and indeed Katie and Troy were present, noone is denying that. However, the decision was made by Mike Brown alone. Katie didn't have to push him. She gave her opinion. Mike Brown is not ready to give up the team, and the only reason Katie is involved at all is the anti Mike Brown propoganda. He wanted fans to see management changing so they would shut the heck up. It hasn't changed a bit.

[HoosierCat]

You may say that, and indeed Katie and Troy were present, noone is denying that. However, the decision was made by Mike Brown alone. Katie didn't have to push him. She gave her opinion. Mike Brown is not ready to give up the team, and the only reason Katie is involved at all is the anti Mike Brown propoganda. He wanted fans to see management changing so they would shut the heck up. It hasn't changed a bit.

Now who's just making stuff up? You can read about the depth of Katie and Troy's involvement here, among other place:

http://bengals.enquirer.com/2003/01/19/wwwben1a19.html

Katie's involvement has been broad and deep for years before Lewis came...

http://bengals.enquirer.com/2000/06/25/ben...s_going_to.html

Prior to hiring Lewis, as the '02 disaster wore on, it was Katie who talked about adding scouts and giving the coach more say-so...

http://i.tsn.com/nfl/articles/20021018/433921.html

There were any number of press reports, such as the ones referenced about halfway through this piece...

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nf...s-comment_x.htm

...that Katie was the biggest booster of Lewis, while Mike was leaning toward Mularkey. Un-named sources referenced by Lenny over at espn.com denied there was any controversy...

http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1492707.html

...but do note that the deccision was a unanimous one among the Bengals braintrust.

In the end, both Mikey and Katie were good with Marvin. Had either of therm not been, I repeat, he would not have been coach.

[bengalindian]

Great article. Mike Brown made the right decision in hiring Marvin Lewis and letting Marvin have more control than any of the recent coaches, and for that I am happy with MB.

[buck3y3d]

Mike Brown may be a good person, but he was and still may be a horrible owner.

1000000000% WRONG

Mike Brown is a good person, and he is a fantastic OWNER. He is loyal to the city, loyal to his players, and he wants to win. He's willing to do anything for someone in need. That's exactly what you want in an OWNER. Would you rather have the dufus Modell who packed up and left at the first opportunity and then sold the team for cash? Would you rather have an owner like Jerry Jones who cares ONLY about how much money he can make? The owner down in New Orleans who can't run a franchise, and at the first sign of true adversity tries to turn it into an opportunity to move to a more profitable city? Or perhaps you'd like the Ford Family who do a great job building cars, but could give two s**ts about football and only use the Lions to advertise their family?

Now, is he a good general manager? No, that is what Mike Brown is not good at. As for PR, the only reason he's bad at PR is because the team lost for a LONG time.

You do realize Mike Brown is only loyal to the city because they (and I) payed for a 400 million dollar stadium and made a deal to buy every single seat not sold out prior to gameday. Mike Brown has been having constant sellouts since the year 2000.

I know Mike convince his father to bring the Bengals here in 1968. That was the last time I would consider Mike Brown loving the city.

During the 90's Mike Brown was known as the stiffest man in sports, he WAS NOT loyal to any players and that is why we could never get a FA to come here.

I know the last few years have made Mike Brown look like a good owner, but remember all that losing. That too was Mike Brown.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Yeah I always thought it was Katie who went to Mike and pleaded with him to hire someone outside of the "family."

At one point she was seen coming out of his office in tears because she didn't want to see him villified in public any longer due to his stubborness I remember.

I respect the fact he went outside of the Bengals' family to get someone finally (and increase the scouting department and do other things) - that it took him 15 years to do it will be hard to forget/forgive.