NFL Draft Rumors: Browns a “wild card” for QB Geno Smith
April 15, 2013Browns Sign Kicker Shayne Graham
April 15, 2013In light of the news coming out of Boston today, everything else is put into perspective. There is news coming out of Tennessee today that could have a big impact on the teams we cover, specifically the Browns.
The Pilot Flying J headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee was taken over by the FBI and IRS in what they are calling “an ongoing investigation”.
Oh crap.
From the Associated Press–
“FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents on Monday locked down the headquarters of Pilot Flying J, the truck stop business owned by the family of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and his brother, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam.
FBI spokesman Marshall Stone told The Associated Press that the move was part of an ongoing investigation, but he would not provide additional details. FBI and IRS agents were expected to remain in the building into the evening, he said.
The FBI was keeping all traffic away from the company property, and Knoxville police patrol cars and officers could be seen outside the headquarters.
“Any details that would be released to the public would not be available for some time,” Stone said.”
Jimmy Haslam released a statement-
“The FBI secured our headquarters today and informed us they are investigating Pilot Flying J. We will cooperate appropriately with any and all external investigations and conduct our own,” Haslam said. “I believe and trust there has been no wrongdoing. The integrity of our company always has been job number one.”
Obviously this is a developing story, but certainly one for Cleveland fans to keep an eye on.
[Related: Trent Richardson says he may always have lingering pain in his ribs]
18 Comments
Will give the facts time to emerge, but it’s hard to imagine that this wasn’t the case.
And ’round and ’round she goes.
If the IRS seizes the Browns and the government ends up running them, can we still somehow perform WORSE than the last 14 years?
It’d be tough to believe so…and the Browns’d actually be America’s team!
this would be perfect… we could just confiscate super bowl rings in the name of “sporting justice”
Bill Simmons has a little saying about our city?
It seems unlikely that the train would go off the tracks in a few months.
It figures, though, that he sold off his Steelers stock just in time to prevent them from getting dragged in too…..
What is it?
yes, agreed. it was always strange that a recently appointed CEO from Pepsi (not exactly small-time) was forced to step aside so quickly. i’m just hoping that he wasn’t involved in any cover-up and was merely trying to fix something.
just when you think that things cannot get any stranger in the world of Cleveland sports. why don’t we call it the curse of Paul Brown? just because we won a championship with his players the next year (Switzer-style)? that may be the reason he cursed our team in the first place.
“God hates Cleveland”… ahahahahahaha oh Bill.
But maybe the Pepsi guy found some dirty stuff in the books and told JH about it, which made JH go back. The Pepsi guy wasn’t there long enough to get Flying J in that much trouble all by himself.
yes, bad wording on my part. i don’t think the Pepsi guy would have done enough in that time and he’s still with the company in a high-paying role. in the transition, it is likely he found some things that were “unpleasant” and brought them to Jimmy’s attention.
Considering how the government has run the City of Cleveland into the ground over the same span…
Also, JH might have gone back simply because he found out that owners of NFL teams don’t have that much to do.
He probably thought he would be a lot busier here, so he bought the big house and joined the Cleveland Clinic board, only to find himself twiddling his thumbs most of the time.
Plus his wife might have preferred to stay in Knoxville.
Finally made myself open this story. Tell me this town doesn’t turn sports blessings to curses. The sudden appearance of a energetic, successful billionaire, the Randy Eject button is pushed, the good vibes pour out of the pressers. Followed by: the buzzkill of the Lombardi hiring; the immediate and hilariously weird (well, not to us, since weirdness is relative) disappearance and gag order on the chosen GM to shield him from fan criticism; the FBI descending on billionaire’s business.
My sanity requires a different approach. Forget what they said about a new competence and stability creating an entertaining sports franchise. Let’s widen the lens: this is pure entertainment, not sports entertainment. Send in the clowns. Good stuff.
on the bright side, this is great news to anyone who prefers the 4-3 defense