Cleveland Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam Apologizes to Fans
By Josh Hill
One story that has been slowly developing this offseason that could have potentially atomic affects, surrounds new Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and the federal government’s investigation into his trucking business. The FBI raided Haslam’s corporate headquarters in Tennessee earlier in April and so far we’ve been told nothing more than the investigation is ongoing.
Documents filed by the FBI and IRS suggest that Haslam may have been comitting fraud when dealing with employees and by extension may have paid for the Cleveland Browns with funds illegally obtained. Nothing has been proven yet and the FBI’s case has gone quiet since news broke of the raid back in April.
But nevertheless, Haslam — who has claimed his innocence from the start — apologized publicly to the cit of Cleveland for souring the name of the city and the Browns by being connected to an FBI investigation.
“I apologize to the city of Cleveland, Northeastern Ohio and all Browns fans because the last thing we ever wanted to do as a new owner was detract from football and the Browns and just what a great football area this is, and so I apologize for that,” Haslam said, via USA Today. “We feel badly about it and we’re very comfortable we’ll work through this situation.”
Haslam said that he hopes the investigation is over and done with by the end of May, at which point he can return his full attention to turning the Browns into contenders in the AFC North. But while he’s argued his innocence since the raid, Haslam said he’s ready to pay whatever he owes if the government finds he missed some payments to companies.
“The important thing is to get it right,” Haslam said. “I’d like to get it wrapped up by the end of the month, but if it takes until early June, early July, we’re going to get the numbers right and if we owe X, Y, Z trucking company, we’ll write them a check on the spot. ”
Despite the possible damage to it’s image, the NFL has not once made any indication that it has considered removing Haslam as owner of the Browns and have no immediate plans to do so barring some unforeseen developments int he investigation.