Meddling owners - The Fans Speak Out

Football Digest, April, 2002

I thoroughly enjoyed your article on interfering owners ["When Owners Get in the Way," February 2002]. But you left out the biggest meddler of them all: Cincinnati's Mike Brown.

Garland Elder Dayton

We figured Brown had received enough of a beating over the years for his decidedly hands-on approach to ownership. In this article, we focused on some of the newer breed, like Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones.

Barry Wilner's article "When Owners Get in the Way" was right on the money! However, he failed to mention one of the worst ownership families in NFL history: the Irsays. Robert Irsay took over a proud and storied Baltimore Colts franchise and quickly transformed it into a laughingstock, alienating the city. Then he sneaked out of town in the middle of a snowy night. The Colts have done no better in Indianapolis, despite good coaches and players. I have only two regrets: that I still have to see the beloved horseshoe on the Colts' helmets and that Bob Irsay didn't live long enough to see Baltimore (in the form of the Ravens) bring home the Lombardi Trophy in January 2001.

Greg Spangenberg Baltimore