Letter From Mike Brown

[*wildcats forever*]

(04-22-2017, 02:46 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: I don't think there's any doubt that Mike Brown wants to win, and that he enjoys winning more than losing. Even the most incompetent owners in the history of sports have had those basic traits. So, I don't think it says anything of value to say that he wants to win. That should be a given, due to the business that he's in.

I'm sure he also wanted to be a highly respected owner and GM. After all, his father was a legend and I'm sure Mike badly wanted to prove himself. Unfortunately, although Mike definitely inherited Paul's stubbornness, he didn't inherit his football IQ. Up until the the last 6/7 years, Mike has been intent on doing things 'his way', even when it was painfully obvious to everyone else that his way wasn't working. 

He has turned over more control over the last few years, and it resulted in a better overall product. So, he deserves credit for that - for finally getting out of the way to a certain extent. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that he spent years setting this franchise back with his ineptitude and poor decision making. 

While the letter is a nice gesture, that's all it is...a gesture. We've seen the same letter/message, in different forms, a few times over the last 26 years. I don't really have an issue with Mike telling us that he wants to win...but after 26 years without a playoff win, NFL record setting postseason futility, the lost decade of the 90's, and the overall record under his watch...it ends just being some nice words, and not a whole lot more. 

Again, I do believe Mike wants to win, as anyone in his position should. But, I do question how passionate he is about it. I've never gotten the sense that Mike has a burning desire to be a champion. What I mean is - I'm sure he would be ecstatic if the Bengals won a Super Bowl...but I don't think he has the passion that would lead him to do whatever it takes to make that moment happen. 

Well said, my brother. Well said indeed!

There aren't that many 'visionaries' in this business. Paul Brown certainly was one, both on the field and in the front office. Not many can fill those shoes. And with that total package came some insecurities, seemingly when he was threatened by another's leadership qualities. I do think it was Paul's petty jealousy of Bill Walsh's talent that caused us to lose him. Just imagine how successful Walsh might've been had he been blessed with full control here. Sam Wyche may have been another, given the right administrative tools, also something we'll never know. As for Mike Brown, he simply inherited most of Paul's negative traits. It's hard to fault him for that, as he had no control over it. He can't change his stripes. He only knows what comes to him naturally I believe. Lucky us .....

With large organizations, it does take a lot of people to pull off the ultimate goal, but it still takes that single individual to set the tone. We need the NFL version of Teddy Roosevelt. And that's not Mike Brown. We're gonna have to win it all in spite of him, but that's gonna take a Bill Belichick/Robert Kraft 'partnership'. Maybe it's a lazy way to critique our situation, as those two are easy to cite as a prime example. It just seems obvious that everyone else on the radar currently pales in comparison. It's going to take new ownership to veer off this historical path, and if that ever happens, we'll likely lose the franchise to another city. I see no Cincinnatian on the horizon to buy out the Brown family, and turn us into the next New England Patriots.