Top dawgs?
Policy joins billionaire Lerner in bid for Browns
Posted: Thursday July 23, 1998 05:40 PM
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Policy will give the group instant name recognition, while Lerner (left) would own 90 percent of the team AP |
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A day after Carmen Policy left the San Francisco 49ers, he was
trying to get right back into the NFL.
He was doing it with a man some blame for helping the Browns leave
Cleveland.
Policy and billionaire banker Alfred Lerner, a minority owner in the old
Browns franchise that moved to Baltimore after the 1995 season, said
Thursday they're applying to purchase the Browns expansion franchise that
will start play next year.
Former Browns quarterback and local fan favorite Bernie Kosar joined the
pair at a news conference to endorse the bid. However, Kosar has no formal
role in the group and said he hasn't asked for one -- at least not yet.
Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White also showed up to back Policy and Lerner.
He said he would lobby NFL owners to pick the two men as the new leaders of
the Browns when they choose an owner between now and mid-September.
"I would have to think we're certainly in the 50-50 category," said Policy,
the ex-49ers president, when asked to assess his and Lerner's chances of
getting the team.
Policy and Lerner are entering a field that has at least five other
entries, including groups with members such as coaching great Don Shula;
former star wide receiver Paul Warfield; Jim Brown, one of the best running
backs ever; and Bill Cosby, who is involved with Shula's group.
But no group may be able to match Policy's ability as a football executive.
Policy served as San Francisco president for seven years and is an expert
at manipulating the salary cap and recruiting free agents, key elements in
San Francisco's 1994 Super Bowl championship. He left San Francisco to
resolve a feud with co-owner Eddie DeBartolo.
There also may be no other group with the financial muscle of Lerner, owner
of the MBNA Corp., whose wealth has been estimated at as much as $2.5
billion. Estimates of the cost of the new Browns have generally run between
$300 million and $350 million.
But Lerner also has a drawback -- his history. He held a small piece of the
Browns, less than 5 percent, when Art Modell was the majority owner and
moved the team to Baltimore. The final deal was struck on Lerner's jet.
Lerner said Thursday he can't change the past, but also said Modell made
the call to leave Cleveland.
"I had as much to do with the decision to move the Cleveland Browns as you
did," Lerner told a reporter. "If I have friend tomorrow that's going to do
something unpopular I may stand with him, too."
Lerner said he and Modell have drifted apart and have no contact now,
although the two never had an argument.
"What I'm interested in is the success of this Cleveland Browns team going
forward in this city," he said. "The city's entitled to it."
Policy, who would own 10 percent of the team to Lerner's 90 percent, called
Lerner two weeks ago and told him he would be available to run the new
Browns if the banker would put up most of the money.
Lerner had soured on the idea of NFL ownership after being criticized for
the old Browns move. But the lure of bringing Policy to Cleveland was too
strong to resist, he said.
"My role is I have to be here in order for Carmen to be here," Lerner said.
"In order for the team to have it's best shot at success, Carmen has to be
here."
The other groups bidding for the Browns include: - Cleveland
developer Bart Wolstein, who has the backing of Hall of fame running back
Brown;
- Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan and his brother, Larry Dolan,
Cleveland natives who are backed by Cosby and Shula;
- New York developer
Howard Milstein, who is working with Warfield and ex-running back Calvin
Hill;
- Suburban Cleveland toy manufacturing mogul Tom Murdough;
- Cleveland Indians owner Dick Jacobs.
All the groups except Jacobs and Murdough have held news conferences in
Cleveland to promote their bids to own the team.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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