Titans interim President Steve Underwood yesterday said that the team "is not for sale while expressing ownership is committed to turning things around in Nashville," according to Jim Wyatt of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. The departure of team President & CEO Tommy Smith has "increased speculation about the possibility of a sale." But Underwood said, "My sources are the five people who own the team, and to a person they all say the team is not for sale. They tell me they are not selling." He added, "There have been no offers. I don't think they would listen to any offers, but no one has made any offers. The owners themselves have made clear the team is not for sale." Wyatt notes Susie Adams Smith and Amy Adams Strunk, the daughters of late Owner Bud Adams, currently have 33% ownership each of the "parent company that owns the Titans, and the family of Adams' deceased son, Kenneth Adams III, also has one-third ownership." Recently, the "majority of the owners appointed Amy Adams Strunk as the owner who can represent the family and vote at the NFL owners meetings." Meanwhile, Underwood said that he "just started the process" of looking for Tommy Smith's replacement. Underwood: "The ownership group has made clear my first charge is to find somebody who can lead us and lead our franchise into the future, someone other than myself. I do think the ownership group wants someone who is not a family member. They want someone who has credibility and can connect with our fans and sponsors, our season-tickets buyers and PSL holders, somebody they can feel confident about our franchise moving forward, someone other than me" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 3/25).
NAH, DAWG: Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam III said there is "zero basis" to a report from CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora that he might be interested in swapping the Browns for the Titans. Asked if the report angered him, Haslam said, "Yeah, you can tell it does. Particularly given the source." In Cleveland, Mary Kay Cabot notes Haslam was referring to the fact that La Canfora "has been highly critical of him in recent months, calling the Browns 'toxic' and 'dysfunctional' and blaming the majority of the problems on Haslam." Still, Haslam did acknowledge that he "can understand why folks might believe they'd want to own the Titans" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 3/25). ESPN's Michael Wilbon said of the proposed franchise swap, “If I'm Cleveland, I want to get this guy who owns the Browns now as far out of town as possible and Tennessee is perfectly fine.” ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said, “He has been a less than stellar owner so far with the Browns. The Titans seem to have been run pretty well. Now let's see if he can sink them.” Kornheiser: "I don't know why Cleveland Browns fans would be angry at this?” Wilbon: “They wouldn’t be angry. They’d be throwing a parade" ("PTI," ESPN, 3/24).
