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In Jason La Canfora's eviscerating report on the Cleveland Browns last week (which team owner Jimmy Haslam said was inaccurate), one of the most discussed things involved team president Alec Scheiner. La Canfora said that Scheiner was becoming a divisive figure in the organization, and started watching film with head coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer every Monday at 6 AM.
The insinuation was that Scheiner was trying to expand his power and instead of just focusing on the business side of things, he was going to start getting involved in personnel matters. In my column a couple of days ago, I called questioned the report's portrayal of Scheiner, as I saw nothing wrong with someone wanting to learn a few things about elements outside of their normal scope. Haslam addressed the Scheiner situation on Wednesday and basically confirmed my suspicions:
#Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said Pres Alec Scheiner watches film w/Ray Farmer to learn, not Mike Pettine. Said Alec "absolutely not" divisive
— Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) February 11, 2015
Haslam stressed that front office isn't dysfunctional. Prez Alec Scheiner watches film to understand game, not critique players.
— Michael McLain (@MichaelMcLain2) February 11, 2015
Hopefully this closes the door on one of the more overblown news stories of the Browns' eventful 2015 offseason, though I'd like to hear Scheiner poke fun at the situation the next time he does an interview.