Written by Thomas Moore

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It’s been said that you only get one chance to make a first impression. If that is true, then James Haslam struck gold in his first weekend as new owner of the Cleveland Browns.

From his arrival at practice on Friday, where the media breathlessly reported that he wore a Cleveland Browns T-shirt (are we really that needy as fans that something like that is important?); to his press conference on Friday afternoon, where the same media were enthralled because Haslam stood up while talking and wore a Browns tie (see previous comment about the T-shirt) it has been a non-stop love fest for our new NFL overlord from Tennessee.

Judging from his comments at the press conference, Haslam did his homework and hit on all the sensitive points among the fan base, almost as if he were working off a check list.

“I know there are some people who think that maybe we might want to move the team out of Cleveland and I can assure you there is zero chance of that happening. Just a little history, we’ve had a relationship with that other team down the road that wears black and gold that we used to be 1,000 percent for, but we’re not anymore.”

So the Browns are not jumping on the first truck headed to Los Angeles and Haslam won’t refer to the Pittsburgh Steelers by name. Check.

“Somebody asked me that when we were having lunch, about being hands on because we run our main business hands on. I looked over at Mike (Holmgren) and I said, ‘Mike probably doesn’t want us to be hands on,’ but I think our style is going to be involved. I think you’ll find that we are open and transparent. I think you’ll find us to be pretty available, pretty transparent people and I’ll be honest, we’re going to be out there selling the Cleveland Browns all the time. When we got off I-90 and saw the water tower here in Berea and it had the Browns helmet on it I thought, ‘Way to go.’ That’s how you’ve got to think, right? It’s all about the orange and brown, all about the Browns.”

Hands-on owner who is not “distracted” by outside interests? Check (although there is still the little matter of Haslam running the Flying Pilot J company, but let’s stick with the pleasant fantasy).

“Culture is about how you come to work every day and conduct yourselves. I think the reality today is, you live in a marketing world and after Randy (Lerner) and I reached an agreement the other day, the first owner that called me was Robert Kraft and he said come up and see me and I’ll tell you everything about football and business I know. It’s a competitive world and the questions I’ve been asking today (are) how does this practice facility stack up against everyone else’s practice facility? Do you have what you need to win here? How’s our stadium compare for the fans? I think those are the things that are important to get right. Will we have naming rights? Probably at some time or could we change the uniforms? I don’t know, but it is a marketing world we live in, and let’s be realistic about that.”

This is the one that rattled people the most as the immediate assumption was that Haslam will slap some kind of crazy logo on the helmets and the traditional orange and brown uniforms will be replaced by some monstrosity cooked up in a lab deep within Nike headquarters. We’re not really sure that is the case, however.

Marketing opportunities come in a wide variety of options. Whether or not the team wants to sell naming rights to the stadium is completely irrelevant to the on-field product. And as the city of Cleveland owns the stadium, not the Browns, they will have a say in the matter.

But that doesn’t mean the team can’t sell advertising space on the practice jerseys used in training camp (and sure enough, look what the Browns were sporting at practice today), or sell naming rights to the practice facility in Berea (the Cavs did this with Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence) and a host of other ways to promote the team and separate the loyal fans from their money. (Wait, isn’t this supposed to be a positive?)

“I sense there’s a strong feeling here that Mike (Holmgren) and the team do have things headed in the right direction. I just think we’ve got to listen, learn and observe. You know in football, you either win or you lose. There’s not a question of how did we do. I think over time these guys will be successful.”

That’s the takeaway that we found most important in all this – the fact that Haslam realizes he does not have all the answers and he is in no hurry to shake things up (much to the chagrin of a segment of fans and media members who had written Holmgren’s ticket out of town even before Haslam had the keys to the facility).

So we know that Haslam can work a room and is smart enough to do his research, but will that translate into being a good owner? That’s the $64,000 question – or in the case of the Browns, the $1 billion question, which is what Haslam reportedly paid for the team. (And a quick sidebar on that: we love the Browns as much as anyone, but if they are worth $1 billion, then how much would successful teams like the Giants, Patriots or Packers be worth?)

The fact that Haslam is a successful businessman, you don’t get to have $1 billion laying around to spend on a sports franchise if you are not good at business, but that in no way guarantees he will be a good owner. Pro sports are different – even when you plan and work and do everything right, things can still go wrong, especially in Cleveland.

The biggest thing Haslam has going for him right now is that he is not Randy Lerner, although the differences are not what the hoople heads would point out.

Both Haslam and Lerner come from privileged backgrounds, the sons of self-made men. The big difference is that Haslam worked his way up through the company, pumping gas at the age of 14, and took a seat on the company’s board while still in college following the death of his mother.

 Lerner ... well, he had other interests. 

So even though he had advantages that many can only dream of, Haslam’s work ethic will go over big among the Browns fan base in a way that Lerner’s background never could. And the fact that by buying the Browns may screw up the Steelers a bit doesn’t hurt.

The other big difference is Haslam wanted to buy the Browns, Lerner took over after his father’s death and was responsible for the team, but it’s easy to see that he never really wanted to be in the owner’s seat in Cleveland.

“We’re going to devote whatever time necessary it takes to get things right here in Cleveland and I believe they’re on the right path now. We’re going to take whatever steps necessary to bring winning football back to Cleveland.”

As far as first impressions go, Haslam couldn’t have made a better one with the Cleveland media and Browns fans. But it is going to take more than a Southern drawl, sweet tea and BBQ (no matter how good it is) to restore the Browns to their rightful place among the NFL’s elite.

In a lot of ways, writing the check was the easy part. Haslam is now one of us.

We just better hope he knows what he is getting into.

(Photo by The Associated Press)