New Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam III addressed the media Tuesday afternoon in Chicago. Haslam was officially approved as the new Browns owner in a 32-0 vote Tuesday morning.
Haslam said during the press conference that the Browns are " truly one of the great iconic NFL brands. If you think back to Paul Brown, and then of course, arguably the greatest NFL player of all time, Jim Brown, it's a very special place."
Haslam said later in the conference that when the Browns won their first game of 2012 last Sunday, "as we left the stadium an hour or so after the game, there were still thousands of people around. And if I didn't know any better, I would have thought we won the AFC Championship instead of winning our first game in 11 months."
Haslam brings along former Philadelphia Eagles president Joe Banner, who will take over the CEO role in Cleveland immediately. Current Browns president Mike Holmgren will retire at the end of the season.
Randy Lerner, who is selling the team, will keep a 30 percent share in the franchise for the next four years. Haslam, a former CEO of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain, will be divesting his 12 percent share in the Pittsburgh Steelers.