Former Browns coach Hue Jackson told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday night that he doesn’t get paid to lose games the same way Brian Flores claims Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross does. offered him money. depending on the network.
“No, I’ve never been offered money like Brian [Flores] had mentioned,” Jackson said, per CNN. “I think it’s a totally different situation but has some similarities.”
Jackson has repeatedly said he received end-of-season bonus money from the Browns as part of a four-year plan centered on building a young team and stockpiling draft picks over the course of the season. from the first two seasons without focusing on winning until the third year.
“When you talk about encouraging a four-year plan that kept the team from playing as well, that people took advantage of it – that’s different. But at the same time, he has some of the same similarities with him,” Jackson said, comparing his situation to the allegations made by Flores.
On Saturday morning, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to all teams and league staff saying the game integrity issues will be investigated.
“We … take seriously any matter relating to the integrity of NFL games,” Goodell wrote in the memo, which The Beacon Journal obtained. “These matters will be thoroughly and independently investigated. We expect these independent experts to receive the full cooperation of everyone associated with the league or any member club as this work progresses. .”
Goodell’s statement about the investigation into game integrity issues applies not only to the Dolphins, but also to the Browns, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said when asked for clarification. The statement relates to “all allegations raised this week,” McCarthy wrote in an email.
On Wednesday, the Browns released a statement denying Jackson’s allegations, calling them “completely fabricated” and “categorically untrue.”
“The recent comments by Hue Jackson and his representatives regarding his tenure as head coach are completely fabricated,” a Browns spokesperson said in a statement. “Any accusation that any member of our organization was deliberately instigated to lose games is categorically false.”
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam also dismissed Jackson’s claims in an interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel.
“Unequivocally, Hue Jackson was never paid to lose games,” Haslam said. “That’s an absolute lie.”
‘Never paid to lose’: Browns owner Jimmy Haslam responds to Hue Jackson allegations
Flores filed a complaint on Tuesday against the NFL, Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos, alleging racial discrimination by league franchises in hiring practices and accusing Ross of offering him $100,000 per loss in goal to tank during the 2019 season for a better draft position the following year.
In Goodell’s memo, he said “racism and any form of discrimination is against NFL values” and “we will re-evaluate and review all policies, guidelines and initiatives relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, including with respect to gender”.
After Flores filed his lawsuit, Jackson and Kimberly Diemert, the executive director of his foundation, began tossing tank payment charges stemming from Jackson’s two and a half seasons with the Browns — he went 3-36-1 from 2016 to the mid-point of the 2018 season.
Browns responds to the allegations:Hue Jackson Foundation executive stands by paying for tanking claims, which Browns calls ‘categorically false’
Diemert alleged that Jackson, former head of football operations Sashi Brown, chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and general manager Andrew Berry were paid by the Browns to tank during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, when the team is aisle 1-31. Diemert also accused the league and Goodell of knowing about the alleged payments and covering them up.
Diemert tweeted the accusations Tuesday night and stood by them in a phone interview with The Beacon Journal on Wednesday morning.
When asked Wednesday night on “SportsCenter” if he had been explicitly approached by ownership or someone in the front office to tank and if he would be pressured to do so, Jackson said, “What approached was figuring out what that four-year plan was.”
Jackson appeared on ESPN Radio’s “Keyshawn, JWill & Max” Thursday and said the end-of-season bonuses he reportedly received from the Browns as part of a plan to lose in 2016 and 2017 maximum at $750,000.
Hue Jackson puts a dollar amount on the loss:Former Browns coach Hue Jackson claims bonuses allegedly tied to tanking plan peaked at $750,000
“Brian says he was offered $100,000 per [loss]. This ain’t the way it was ever presented [to me]”, Jackson said in the same interview with the show “Keyshawn, JWill & Max”. work and these things – working together. That’s how it was put together.
“When you look at it, like I said, it’s really interesting because all the content had all these different ways between coaching, executives that they could make money for if you hit these marks, these particular benchmarks, and, to me, like I said, it didn’t make sense. And I still don’t understand what the formula is, how did you figure that out, what made this work work that said that you would earn that extra money, but that’s what happened.
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Nate Ulrich can be contacted at nullrich@thebeaconjournal.com.
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