The NFL’s Worst Owner

[michael89156]

Oct 20th 2011

Off on a Tangent: The NFL’s Worst Owner


Source:   http://t.co/rpOgAy0j
AUTHOR: Patrik Nohe


 






Stephen Ross makes the Glazers look awesome.

I hear day in and day out about the Buccaneers’ ownership group, the Glazers, and why Bucs fans don’t seem to like the men who steward the franchise. And that’s fine, albeit overplayed, but when Bucs fans say they have the worst owners in football I want you to take a second to look south and think about the NFL’s worst owner, Stephen Ross.

Stephen Ross took over the Dolphins in January of 2009 when Miami was 11-5 and the winners of the AFC East. Since coming to town the Dolphins have gone 14-23 including 0-5 this season. It’s hard to blame all of that on an owner but sit down for a second and listen before throwing the Glazers under the bus.

The first thing Ross did in Miami was redo Bill Parcells’ contract so he could leave the franchise at any time and still keep all his money from the four year contract. This was supposed to ensure loyalty and still Parcells left after two years (out of four) and is now receiving checks from the Dolphins and ESPN where he works today. That’s the tip of the iceberg…



They Play Football Here Too?

Ross’ next move was to diminish the football atmosphere at Dolphins stadium by bringing in a list of B-list celebrity owners and putting a club in the stadium. You can see why football fans weren’t crazy about the orange carpet and seeing Fergie and J-Lo arrive every Sunday, but that’s really not a huge deal compared with putting mall shops and a club in your stadium and trying to lure attendance from non-fans to turn Sun Life stadium into a universal attraction.

That makes sense if you want to be profitable (I guess, though winning helps too) but nothing diminishes your home-field advantage like having several thousand people never make it to their seats because ownership turned the stadium into more of a mall-attraction than a football venue.

When they opened Club Liv at the start of last year, Dolphins’ CEO Mike Dee said:


“This isn’t going to be for everybody. It’s for people who like to have a good time and like to be at a party where there happens to be a football game.”

Since opening the club, the Dolphins are 0-10 at home.

The (Failed) Replacements

Part of the reason for Miami’s lack of success this season also stems from Ross’ poor leadership this off-season. I’m sure you heard over the off-season Ross and his little finger puppet, GM Jeff Ireland (famous for asking Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute), took a clandestine trip to California to try and hire Jim Harbaugh. As you saw two weeks ago, Harbaugh said no and opted to coach the 49ers.

Ross then turned around and after the meeting became public offered his now-alienated HC an empty contract extension, thus setting the stage for an entire team to quit on a lame-duck coach. Anyone in Miami with a multi-year deal is going to outlast Tony Sparano. It also ended up wrecking the relationship between head coach and GM. As Miami Herald columnist Armando Salguero reported a couple weeks ago, Ireland and Sparano are barely on speaking terms these days. Nothing breeds success like coaches and GM’s that don’t speak.

Never in my entire life have I seen an owner fail to replace a coach, and then keep that coach after publicly seeking his replacement. If you wondered how that plays out, look at this Dolphins season when its done.

You Ain’t Seen Nothin’

But that’s not the kicker. Oh no. That all pales in comparison to what will happen in Miami this weekend when the Broncos come to town. This weekend will be Gators appreciation day, meaning the Dolphins will honor the Florida Gators’ national title teams at halftime, including the recently-made-starter Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow.

Think about that, you’re essentially turning this home game into an away game because you’ve invited swarms of Tebow-throaters (in orange and blue) to root for their favorite college player as he plays against the hometown Miami Dolphins. You think many of these Gators fans are going to show up to root for the Fins? You remember when Tebow had the most popular rookie jersey in football last year and you saw thousands of UF-alum suddenly sporting Broncos gear? I don’t think they’re coming Sunday hoping to see Miami get their first win.

Ownership willingly invited this issue. They made a conscious decision to put their team at a literal disadvantage (for a little bit of money and cheap publicity).

That’s all I’m saying, the Glazers don’t even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as a visionless twit like Stephen Ross. It’s one thing not to spend a ton, it’s another to try to make money at the expense of your team. So next time you want to lament this team’s ownership, look south to our friends in Miami and thank your stars it’s not Stephen Ross behind the wheel of this franchise

[PewterG@tor]

The Glazers are bad but def not the worst.  Their issue is obviously their frugality.  The stadium experience at Raymond James certainly relects that.  The Jumbotron is of poor quality. There aren't many displays to show other scores around the NFL during the game.  The halftime shows are a joke.  Virtually no money is put in place to enhance the fan experience at the games despite the fact that they paid nothing for the stadium yet reap all of the rewards from it.  It disgusts me how cheap they are.  Especially since the player salaries are almost entirely paid by the NFL revenue sharing and broadcast dollars.  So what are they spending their money on?  We know it isn't free agents or stadium upgrades, that's for sure.

[chace1986]

5 worst owners.

5. Ralph Wilson
4. Paul Brown
3. Bud Adams
2. Dan Snyder
1. Jerry Jones

[PewterG@tor]

5 worst owners.

5. Ralph Wilson
4. Paul Brown
3. Bud Adams
2. Dan Snyder
1. Jerry Jones

Definitely disagree about Ralph Wilson.  He's old as dirt and lives year round in Detroit but comes to Buffalo for the games.  He may be out of touch with the newer trends of the NFL but he goes out of his way for the fans.  Why is he in your top 5?

[Boid Fink]

Jerrah is bad if only because he tries to coach the team through his presence.

Snyder is awful because he spends frivolously without laying a plan.

Brown is horrible.  Nuff said.  He is archaic, a dinosaur that should be extinct.

Glazers suck because they are ridiculously cheap.  Save me the comments about the Ipads...that is a joke in the world of the NFL.  Glazers bros suck.  Cannot change my mind on that...it is obvious they are stingy as hell.  Eff Man-U(re).

[BucsFTW]

THIS IS A STUPID THREAD...

Jerrah is bad if only because he tries to coach the team through his presence.

I'm assuming you mean Jerry.  Yeah, I know he spends the dough, but I forgot about that... You're spot on sir.  I don't really like seeing the owner walking the sidelines.  Stay in your friggin' Ivory Tower & just be willing to spend for talent if it's available...!

Snyder is awful because he spends frivolously without laying a plan.

He just needs a SMART GM & Prez.  Hand operations over and stay the hell outta the way.

Brown is horrible.  Nuff said.  He is archaic, a dinosaur that should be extinct.

Brown's at the TOP of my list.

Glazers suck because they are ridiculously cheap.  Save me the comments about the Ipads...that is a joke in the world of the NFL.  Glazers bros suck.  Cannot change my mind on that...it is obvious they are stingy as hell.  Eff Man-U(re).

The Ipads are gonna be league wide in a few short years.  Guarantee it.  The Glazers aren't rocket scientists, but they like and seek out high tech stuff.  It sells.

Are they tighter than a funeral drum?  Only on team salary matters.

Is that one of the MOST important things that makes a team successful?  Undoubtedly helps.

[chace1986]

5 worst owners.

5. Ralph Wilson
4. Mike* Brown
3. Bud Adams
2. Dan Snyder
1. Jerry Jones

Definitely disagree about Ralph Wilson.  He's old as dirt and lives year round in Detroit but comes to Buffalo for the games.  He may be out of touch with the newer trends of the NFL but he goes out of his way for the fans.  Why is he in your top 5?

He royally pissed off fans in Buffalo when he sold home games to Toronto.
When it comes to payroll spending, he is as bad as the Glazers.
His decisions in the hirings of constant failure after failure at HC and GM....
...Which has resulted in rebuilding after rebuilding after rebuilding....   
It may not be so true in the last year or two...but in recent history he has ben tagged as a "meddler" in the drafting process. (Marshawn Lynch for example)

[BucsFTW]

5 worst owners.

5. Ralph Wilson
4. Paul Brown
3. Bud Adams
2. Dan Snyder
1. Jerry Jones

Definitely disagree about Ralph Wilson.  He's old as dirt and lives year round in Detroit but comes to Buffalo for the games.  He may be out of touch with the newer trends of the NFL but he goes out of his way for the fans.  Why is he in your top 5?

He royally pissed off fans in Buffalo when he sold home games to Toronto.
When it comes to payroll spending, he is as bad as the Glazers.
His decisions in the hirings of constant failure after failure at HC and GM....
...Which has resulted in rebuilding after rebuilding after rebuilding....   
It may not be so true in the last year or two...but in recent history he has ben tagged as a "meddler" in the drafting process. (Marshawn Lynch for example)

Hard to argue with the idiocy with which Ralph runs his club...

Why he doesn't hire a VP of operations and then  ---->  "Stay the hell out of the way...!"

Is beyond me.

[PewterG@tor]

Mike Brown wins this discussion hands down.  He's meddlesome because he's the GM.  He's cheap as hell.  He doesn't listen to anything that anyone tries to advise him on other than what he wants to hear.  He's stubborn just because he has some bs sense of trying to justify that he's doing things the right way.

[chace1986]

5 worst owners.

5. Ralph Wilson
4. Mike* Brown
3. Bud Adams
2. Dan Snyder
1. Jerry Jones

Definitely disagree about Ralph Wilson.  He's old as dirt and lives year round in Detroit but comes to Buffalo for the games.  He may be out of touch with the newer trends of the NFL but he goes out of his way for the fans.  Why is he in your top 5?

He royally pissed off fans in Buffalo when he sold home games to Toronto.
When it comes to payroll spending, he is as bad as the Glazers.
His decisions in the hirings of constant failure after failure at HC and GM....
...Which has resulted in rebuilding after rebuilding after rebuilding....   
It may not be so true in the last year or two...but in recent history he has ben tagged as a "meddler" in the drafting process. (Marshawn Lynch for example)

Hard to argue with the idiocy with which Ralph runs his club...

Why he doesn't hire a VP of operations and then  ---->  "Stay the hell out of the way...!"

Is beyond me.

4 of those 5 I named are there mostly becuase they can "stay the hell out of the way."
Mike(not paul..typo) Brown...is just an idiot...and is probably truly the worst..

[PewterG@tor]

5 worst owners.

5. Ralph Wilson
4. Paul Brown
3. Bud Adams
2. Dan Snyder
1. Jerry Jones

Definitely disagree about Ralph Wilson.  He's old as dirt and lives year round in Detroit but comes to Buffalo for the games.  He may be out of touch with the newer trends of the NFL but he goes out of his way for the fans.  Why is he in your top 5?

He royally pissed off fans in Buffalo when he sold home games to Toronto.
When it comes to payroll spending, he is as bad as the Glazers.
His decisions in the hirings of constant failure after failure at HC and GM....
...Which has resulted in rebuilding after rebuilding after rebuilding....   
It may not be so true in the last year or two...but in recent history he has ben tagged as a "meddler" in the drafting process. (Marshawn Lynch for example)

Hard to argue with the idiocy with which Ralph runs his club...

Why he doesn't hire a VP of operations and then  ---->  "Stay the hell out of the way...!"

Is beyond me.

This is the first I've heard of him being meddlesome.  As far as the Toronto thing, he sold the home games there because the attendance was lacking in Buffalo on gameday.  From what I heard, the Toronto games didn't draw many more people either because they saw it as competition for the Argos.  Toronto would have been the next best market for Bills fans because of the close proximity to Buffalo, so why are they b*tching about that?

[BucsFTW]

This is the first I've heard of him being meddlesome.  As far as the Toronto thing, he sold the home games there because the attendance was lacking in Buffalo on gameday.  From what I heard, the Toronto games didn't draw many more people either because they saw it as competition for the Argos.  Toronto would have been the next best market for Bills fans because of the close proximity to Buffalo, so why are they b*tching about that?

I don't know "100%" PG, but - I HAVE heard it since the Jim Kelly era.  Don't know the level to which he "meddles", but when owners are too stupid to put the club's destiny in the hands of knowledgable "football guys"... It's a recipe for years of frustration IMO.

And...  Buffalo is a complete crap-hole.  The Bills are all that they've got and Wilson's taken that for granted for years...

Some of the truest diehard fans in the league...

[PewterG@tor]

This is the first I've heard of him being meddlesome.  As far as the Toronto thing, he sold the home games there because the attendance was lacking in Buffalo on gameday.  From what I heard, the Toronto games didn't draw many more people either because they saw it as competition for the Argos.  Toronto would have been the next best market for Bills fans because of the close proximity to Buffalo, so why are they b*tching about that?

I don't know "100%" PG, but - I HAVE heard it since the Jim Kelly era.  Don't know the level to which he "meddles", but when owners are too stupid to put the club's destiny in the hands of knowledgable "football guys"... It's a recipe for years of frustration IMO.

And...  Buffalo is a complete crap-hole.  The Bills are all that they've got and Wilson's taken that for granted for years...

Some of the truest diehard fans in the league...

The fact that they are one of the top 5 fan bases in the league is probably why they still have the team in Buffalo.  Wilson has gone on the record on several occasions to say that he won't move the team unless it was the absolute last resort.  The stadium there is deplorable, although I've heard that he intends to do some upgrades in the near future.  The reason that attendance was so bad a few years ago was because the economy had rocked them pretty hard.  They've recovered a bit and attendance has reflected that.
Concerning Ralph's meddling, I'll bet anything that it has to do with money.  For example, the Marshawn Lynch selection. A RB was cheaper to sign in the old negotiation process than almost any other position besides maybe LB.  He doesn't have a VP of Operations for the same reason.  He's pretty frugal.

[BucsFTW]

Well put...

[The Anti-Java]

My vote goes to the late Al Davis.  He moves the team, then moves them back.  Meddled big time in the operation.  If you were fast, Al would draft you. It didn't matter if you were a good football player or not.