Cleveland Browns Owner Al Lerner dead

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer

 

CLEVELAND (AP) - Al Lerner gave millions to charity, but perhaps one of the self-made billionaire's greatest gifts went to Cleveland's rabid football fans.

 

 

He brought back their beloved Browns.

 

Lerner, who used his wealth from banking, real estate and credit-card giant MBNA Corp. to buy the Browns in 1998, died Wednesday night. He was 69.

 

Lerner's death came four years to the day that the NFL formally transferred ownership to the native New Yorker and one-time furniture salesman who adopted Cleveland as his home.

 

Lerner underwent surgery in May 2001, reportedly to remove a brain tumor, and in June said he had been in and out of the hospital over the past year. The cause of his death was not immediately known.

 

"The Browns have suffered a great loss," the team said in a statement. "Al Lerner was a remarkable man — exceptionally devoted to his family, a tremendously compassionate person, and a trusted and valued friend."

 

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Lerner's death "leaves a terrible void for all of us in the NFL."

 

"Al Lerner magnificently fulfilled the American Dream, with extraordinary achievement in business and philanthropy," Tagliabue said. "Tough and considerate at the same time, his judgment and advice was always special. His NFL legacy is as much about his being an influential league leader as it is being the generous Browns owner."

 

A regular visitor to the Browns' suburban training facility to see the team he helped return to Cleveland in 1998, Lerner was rarely seen publicly in the past few months.

 

However, on the night before the season opener against Kansas City last month, Lerner went to the team hotel and gave an emotional speech.

 

"America lost a great man," wide receiver Kevin Johnson (news) said Wednesday night. "He's done so much for the country as a whole and especially the Cleveland area."

 

A resident of suburban Shaker Heights, Lerner was ranked 36th on Forbes

magazine's 2002 list of the richest Americans with a net worth of $4.3 billion.

 

Although chairman and chief executive officer of MBNA, the world's largest independent credit-card issuer, Lerner usually shunned the limelight.

 

That changed when he outbid five other groups and was awarded the Browns expansion franchise for $530 million, at the time the highest price paid for a sports team. He hired Carmen Policy as team president and gave Policy, formerly with the San Francisco 49ers (news), 10 percent ownership.

 

The purchase came three years after his longtime friend, Art Modell, moved the franchise to Baltimore.

 

Lerner was a minority owner of the former Browns, and it was on one of his jets where Modell struck a deal with Maryland authorities to move the team.

 

While Lerner admitted he had a "front row" seat, he said the move was Modell's decision.

 

After bringing the Browns back, Lerner served as chairman of the NFL's finance committee and was regarded as one of the league's most influential owners.

 

"The city of Cleveland has lost a true giant," Cleveland Indians (news) owner Larry Dolan said. "His leadership in bringing the Browns back to Cleveland is only one example of how much he has done for the city."

 

Unlike the flamboyant Jerry Jones of Dallas or the opinionated Modell, Lerner was a hands-off owner.

 

He followed a similar approach in most of his business dealings.

 

The son of an immigrant candy shop owner, Lerner was a tough-minded kid, whose first job selling furniture paid him $75 a week.

 

He saved enough to enter a deal to purchase a Cleveland apartment building. His real estate empire grew, and he went on to acquire banking interests in Baltimore.

 

In 1991, he spun off the MBNA Credit Corp. from debt-ridden MNC Financial in Maryland with a stock offering that raised $995 million. He ended up with a 10 percent stake in MBNA and became its chief executive.

 

Lerner also was chairman of Town & Country Trust, a Baltimore-based real estate investment trust that owns and manages residential properties.

 

Lerner was born May 8, 1933, in Brooklyn. He started from modest beginnings and earned a degree from Columbia in 1955. He later became a university trustee and received the Hamilton Medal, the school's highest honor, in 1997.

 

As a philanthropist, Lerner gave generously to hospitals and universities.

 

In June 2002, he and his family gave $100 million to the Cleveland Clinic, the largest gift ever given to a Northeast Ohio institution.

 

"I love helping people," he said recently. "It vindicates what I have been working for all these years. I have always wanted to leave a legacy in the field of medicine, where I can have some contribution in both furthering and developing new research along with helping sick people to get better treatment.

 

"That is what I hope my legacy is going to be, not just that I made a bunch of money."

 

Lerner's $25 million gift helped pay for Columbia's Lerner Hall, a student activities center.

 

He gave $10 million, on behalf of his wife, Norma, to University Hospitals of Cleveland to help provide a new hospital wing.

 

Lerner also helped create the Cleveland Browns Hero Fund to aid one family each from the New York City Fire and Police Departments who lost a parent in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

 

He was president of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, which oversees a medical complex with an international reputation. His gift of $16 million to the Clinic led to the 1999 opening of the Lerner Research Institute.

 

In October 2001, President Bush (news - web sites) named Lerner to the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, which provides independent advice to the president on the quality of the nation's intelligence system.

 

A former Marine, Lerner hired former FBI (news - web sites) and Secret Service agents to work at MBNA. He also hired former Secret Service director Lew Merletti as the Browns' security director.

 

He is survived by his wife, the former Norma Wolkoff, two children and seven grandchildren. Services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at the Temple-Tifereth Israel in Cleveland.

 

Can't say that this really affects me at all, but my condolences go out to the Browns fans (from a Baltimore Ravens fan none the less..) and his family..

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Why is it that whenever someone dies their a great guy. Maybe this Lerner was I don't know, but why can't they say so and so was a jerk who wasn't liked by anyone.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Well, in Cleveland, he was 80 million times more respected than Art Model, because he brought back the Browns after Art Model skipped town..

[Guest Vern Gagne]

When Art Moddel dies you'll hear about how much he gave to charity and how influental he was in the development of the game.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Damit, why couldn't a Browns owner die 10 years ago?...

[Guest El Satanico]

When Art Moddel dies you'll hear about how much he gave to charity and how influental he was in the development of the game.

Not in Cleveland or Ohio for that matter.

[Guest DrTom]

Why is it that whenever someone dies their a great guy.

Because people generally try to speak well of the dead, and the media likes to avoid libel suits. Unless a person was the world's biggest asshole, someone will find something nice to say about them after their death.

 

What vexes me is how everyone who dies of a disease or illness was "courageous" and "fought bravely against the odds." One of my favorite headlines from The Onion is, "Loved Ones Recall Local Man's Cowardly Battle With Cancer."

[Guest LooseCannon]

I grew up in Cleveland, and despite Model's egregious transgression against the city, I can honestly say that Art Model actually *did* do some good things during his time in Cleveland with charities and helping with (former Cleveland mayor) Voinovich's revitalization efforts, and he *was* influential in the development of the game. Anyway RIP to Al Lerner, he seemed like a good guy.

[Guest Sassquatch]

My condolences go out to Mr.Lerner's loved ones.

 

When Art does indeed pass away, I doubt a lot of fans will be shedding tears for him in Cleveland, which is their own prerogative.

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

Living in Cleveland, it seems that Al Learner was a great man. From what I heard on radio shows, he was very humble and just wanted to bring a winning franchise to Cleveland. He went from selling furniture to owning an NFL franchise. His son Randy will be running The Browns from now on.

 

Learner had been sick for quite a while but whenever he taked to his team, he wanted the team and his players to be the focus of the conversation, not his sickness. His funeral service was very brief (that's how Learner wanted it) because Learner seemed to be the type of guy who wanted his loved ones to pay their respects and get on w/ their business. He was a pretty tough guy.

 

My favorite memory of him is when he actually DEFENDED fans at Cleveland Browns Stadium when they threw bottles / radios / ect. after their game vs. Jacksonville. He knew the refs were wrong and wasn't about to join the media in bashing Cleveland fans because they were passionate. Right or wrong, Learner told it how he saw it and he wanted nothing but the best for Cleveland and The Browns.