Estate of Paul E. Brown, Deceased, Peter D. Brown and Michael Brown, Co-Executors - Page 19

                                         19                                           
          to report back to the Bengals after the strike and announced that           
          he would sign with the Michigan Panthers of the USFL.  USFL teams           
          were also interested in other Bengals players, such as David                
          Verser, the Bengals' number one draft choice in 1981.                       
               On February 22, 1983, the New Jersey Generals of the USFL              
          announced the signing of 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel                
          Walker.  Walker's contract provided for payments of $5 million              
          over 3 years.  The USFL held its first college draft on January             
          4-5, 1983.  The USFL drafted several star college players in                
          January 1983; USFL teams tried to sign these players for their              
          spring 1983 season.                                                         
          E.   1983 Agreements Between Paul Brown and Sawyer                          
               1.   Background                                                        
               Sawyer began to have financial difficulties in the early               
          1980's.  Sawyer wanted to receive income from his investment in             
          the Bengals.  Sawyer and Paul and Mike Brown began negotiations             
          in the spring of 1981 to increase Sawyer's cash flow from the               
          Bengals.                                                                    
               Paul Brown wanted to give his sons an opportunity to control           
          the Bengals.  However, he was concerned about the Bengals'                  
          finances and prospects.  He knew that Cincinnati was a small                
          market by NFL standards in the early 1980's.  In the winter of              
          1982-83, he thought the USFL, the players' strike that had just             
          ended, the fact that all NFL teams lost money in the 1982 season,           






Page:  Previous  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011