Mike Brown | |
---|---|
Born |
Michael Brown August 10, 1935 Massillon, Ohio |
Occupation | Owner/President/General Manager – Cincinnati Bengals (NFL). |
Michael "Mike" Brown (born August 10, 1935) is the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals, an American football team in the National Football League. He is the son of Paul Brown, the former Cleveland Browns and Ohio State University coach and Bengals co-founder and coach.
Brown's ownership has been criticized for a lack of on-field success, his refusal to cede football operations to a general manager, and the team's relationship with Hamilton County before and after a voter-approved tax increase to fund Paul Brown Stadium.
Brown is the only living son of Paul Brown. His brother, Pete, was the Senior Vice-President of Bengals' player personnel until his death in 2017. His older brother, Robin, died of cancer in 1978.
Brown graduated from Dartmouth College in 1957, where he played quarterback for their football team, and from Harvard Law School in 1959. In an unusual meeting between future sports owners, eventual New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner hired him to a summer job as a deck hand for Kinsman Marine Transit Company.
Brown eventually followed his father into football management. Paul Brown founded the Bengals, then an American Football League team, in 1968. (This was several years after Paul Brown was dismissed as Cleveland Browns head coach in a well-publicized falling out with Art Modell.) Mike Brown began his executive duties with the Bengals as assistant general manager. Along with personnel decisions, he was a spokesman for the team on issues of league rules and team policy.