An amazing streak for Cincinnati Bengals president Mike Brown ends this week.
Cincinnati Bengals team president Mike Brown won’t be at his team’s game for the first time since 1991 this Thursday when they play on Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns.
Brown has attended 824 consecutive Bengals games, including the preseason and postseason. He’s attended games all over the country and even in London.
But Thursday’s game, roughly three hours or so up the road, takes place during a pandemic, and the 85-year-old Brown has been advised to stay home, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.
“I’m the age I am and I check all the boxes, and I’m told it’s foolish to do it,” Brown said. “It comes down to a decision and maybe it’s time to start doing stuff like this. I’m just at the age I have to go about life a little differently.”
Not that he doesn’t see the humor in it being the Browns, of all teams.
“It was going to be somebody,” Brown said. “The fact it’s Cleveland and on a Thursday night is all sort of ironic and not normal.”
This will be the second Bengals game Brown has ever missed. The other came in 1991 as he spent time with his dying father — the man he helped start the organization with in the late 1960s after leaving the team up north.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown will be in the mix for a job with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Philadelphia 76ers are in the midst of a coaching search for the first time since 2013 after firing Brett Brown on Monday and there is already a list of candidates for the position. However, there appears to be a new name thrown into the mix as well.
Golden State Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown could be in the mix for the 76ers’ head-coaching vacancy. A league source says communications are happening on that front. Will he get an interview? To be determined.
Brown has a career coaching record of 347-216 including a record of 305-187 with the Cavaliers as he guided them to an NBA Finals appearance in 2007. He also spent some time as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers for a season and then five games into the following season.
Obviously, Brown has had a lot of success in his career, but Tyronn Lue probably makes the most sense for this specific group of Sixers. They need a guy who is going to demand respect from day 1 and that is what Lue offers as well as being a very good X’s and O’s coach. General manager Elton Brand mentioned what he is looking for in a new coach so it remains to be seen what he and his staff will do. [lawrence-related id=37209,37206,37197]
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James credited his old Cavaliers coach Mike Brown for learning more about playing defense.
While much of the focus during LeBron James’ chat with the media on Tuesday was about the chair he was sitting on, the subject of his defensive communication came up, as it has been as clear as ever for media in attendance to hear the things being said on the court, at least in the modern era.
Players often talk about how smart James is at calling out their plays on the defensive side of the ball and when James was asked about it after Tuesday’s practice, he gave credit to his former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown. Brown coached the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007 and they were routinely ranked highly on the defensive end.
LeBron James gives credit to Mike Brown on getting comfortable with defensive coverages: "He came in with a defensive mindset and a defensive strategy. It started with a lot of communication. I give a lot of credit to Mike Brown on putting a lot of pressure on me." #Lakeshow
Brown, currently the lead assistant coach on the Golden State Warriors, has a winning record All-Time as a head coach. Brown’s teams have won over 61 percent of their games and his run with the Cavaliers included the ’07 Finals, as well as two 60-win seasons.
American Top Team’s Mike Brown didn’t travel to Abu Dhabi after he and another coach tested positive for the coronavirus.
[autotag]Mike Brown[/autotag] won’t be in [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag]’s corner at UFC 251 after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Brown, the longtime American Top Team coach, received his positive test Monday in Las Vegas during pre-fight screenings required to travel to Yas Island, Abu Dhabi where UFC 251 takes place Saturday. The news was first reported by Combate, which Brown later confirmed to MMA Junkie on Tuesday.
“I’m OK, (tested) positive,” Brown said in a text message. “I won’t be in Abu Dhabi.”
Fellow ATT coach Gabriel de Oliveira also tested positive and was unable to travel on the UFC’s charter flight from Las Vegas.
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Brown was supposed to corner Masvidal for his short-notice title fight against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. It’s unclear who will work Masvidal’s corner at UFC 251.
Masvidal stepped in as a late-replacement opponent for Usman after Gilbert Burns, who originally was scheduled to fight the champ, tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday. He was forced out of the championship fight, opening the door for Masvidal to step in.
Amanda Nunes’ coach, Mike Brown, details the many reasons why the UFC champ-champ is the greatest – and hopes it’s not over yet.
In MMA, many topics spark debate, and there’s rarely a discussion that ends in a unanimous ruling. However, that’s not really the case when dissecting [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]’s legacy and place in the sport.
The Brazilian fighter has been unbeaten in the last five years and has picked up belts in two different divisions along the way. Nunes (20-4 MMA, 13-1 UFC), the UFC’s featherweight and bantamweight champion, has been regarded as the greatest of all time in women’s MMA ever since her December 2018 knockout of Cris Cyborg. The label of being the best to ever do it is made often and rarely gets challenged.
[autotag]Mike Brown[/autotag], one of Nunes’ main coaches at American Top Team in South Florida, believes it’s quite simple why the champ-champ is easily considered the best female fighter of all time.
“It’s not so hard with the women’s because there’s not that many weights, so they have all fought each other,” Brown told MMA Junkie. “Anybody else that might be in that argument, she’s fought them for the most part.
“She’s fought from almost, besides the 115 division, but 125, 135, and 145 pounds she’s fought nearly every champion that’s ever been in the sport. So there’s not much to argue about, so that’s the reason why it’s so clear. Had she not fought them all, of course there’s always an argument, right? But she’s fought everybody, and she’s already beat them all, so how can you argue for anybody if she’s already beat them? And with Valentina (Shevchenko), it’s twice (that Nunes has beat her). Obviously Valentina is unbelievable and one of the greatest of all time without a doubt, but (Nunes has) climbed that mountain two times.”
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Nunes has looked dominant in her run as dual UFC champion. In her most recent title fight, Nunes outclassed former Invicta FC featherweight champ Felicia Spencer at UFC 250. It was a one-sided contest.
Brown believes there are many reasons why Nunes has created such a big gap between her and the rest of the pack.
“One, she’s been in the sport for a long time, so she has a lot of experience,” Brown said. “She’s not new to the game. She was into the sport way before it was cool, way before it paid money, when nobody was into it, so she has a lot of experience. She’s gifted genetically. She has natural punching power. She hits really hard. She’s built for the sport, she has very long limbs, and she’s really strong and technical.
“She started in judo, so she’s got that judo background. She then went into jiu-jitsu, and she has a really good natural feeling for striking. She judges distance well and has many weapons.”
After the bout with Spencer, many wondered who’s next for Nunes since she’s defeated almost all the big names in her divisions while at the same time making it seem she’s far superior to the rest of the competition. Nunes, who’s about to become a mother with her pregnant wife, Nina Ansaroff, has flirted with retirement recently, mentioning lack of challenges in both of her weight classes.
Brown, however, would like to see Nunes remain active and further her legacy.
“I don’t know 100 percent, but at the end of the day money talks, you know,” Brown said regarding Nunes’ status with retirement. “So it might come down to a money thing. I don’t know what fight excites her right now. Maybe it’s probably not a lot of what’s going to be offered to her; maybe it’s not as exciting as what she had to overcome to get to this point.
“Fighting people like Cyborg, who was on a 10-year winning streak, that was pretty big. It doesn’t get much bigger. Or Ronda Rousey or name the challenge that she’s overcome. So how the landscape sits, there’s nothing really … even though there might be challengers that are equally as worthy, if not more worthy in a way, but nothing kind of on paper that’s exciting.
“So it’s going to maybe come down to money, and it will be money that excites her, I don’t know. Maybe boredom. She takes off a few months and decides this normal life is not what I want, I need that adrenaline again. So I’m not certain, but I know the fans want to see her, and I want to see her. She’s an unbelievable talent and the greatest female fighter that’s ever competed.”
American Top Team coach Mike Brown wants big things for Dustin Poirier’s future.
[autotag]Mike Brown[/autotag] thinks big things should be in [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag]’s horizon.
The former WEC featherweight champion and current American Top Team coach wants to see Poirier get the next shot at the UFC lightweight belt or otherwise be involved in a marquee fight. Of course, Poirier is coming off an impressive win in a “Fight of the Year” contender bout against Dan Hooker in the headlining act of UFC on ESPN 12.
Brown feels Poirier has proven to be a draw and one of the most exciting fighters in the company.
“I don’t know how many main events in a row, but it’s quite a lot,” Brown told MMA Junkie. “I feel like he’s carrying a lot of these shows. He’s a guy everybody wants to see, of course he’s my friend, but as a fan, there’s only a few guys like him out there. Every fight delivers, every fight is ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate, and if it’s not that, that’s because somebody got put away really fast. If it goes any distance, it’s going to be wild.”
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Poirier is 6-1 in his last seven performances, with his lone defeat coming to undefeated champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. In this most recent stretch, Poirier has headlined six of those seven UFC events and earned six postfight awards – five ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses and one ‘Performance of the Night.’
Brown sees Poirier as an important asset to the UFC, and despite Poirier not being champion, the ATT coach would like to see “The Diamond” get paid like many non-UFC champion stars.
“At the end of the day, if it’s about pulling weight, if you’re a draw, if you’re the guy people are paying to see, then you deserve the money,” Brown explained. “Obviously he’s a draw. He’s a guy people want to see. He’s a guy that puts on a show. He’s a guy that delivers every time. Every time is wild chaos. It’s ‘Fight of the Year,’ it’s ‘Fight of the Night,’ somebody is getting messed up. He delivers every time.”
After the grueling contest with Hooker, Brown would like to see Poirier give his body a proper rest and see how the lightweight division shakes out in the coming months as there’s a pending title unification bout with champ Nurmagomedov and interim title holder Justin Gaethje.
Depending on how the 155-pound weight class unfolds, Brown wants to see Poirier get a shot at the title of a marquee fight.
“I don’t think there’s a rush,” Brown said. “Let’s look at the landscape, let’s see what’s next. In a perfect world, for me a title fight, but maybe there’s a big exciting fight out there.
“I know for him it’s about something that gets him excited. It needs to be something that gets him excited, something that motivates him, something that puts him in the gym and gets his fire going and makes him push himself to the max. That’s what he wants, especially when you’ve had so many high-level UFC fights. It takes a while to get that fire going. I mean, they’re out there but it’s not just about taking any fight. He’s been at it for so long, it needs to mean something to him. We’ll see what they come up with.”
A report out of Cincinnati says Bengals owner Mike Brown “begged” players not to kneel during the anthem in 2017.
A report out of Cincinnati’s WLWT Monday shows how fearful one NFL owner, Cincinnati Bengals boss Mike Brown, was of players on his team kneeling during the national anthem in 2017.
1.September 24th, 2017 in Green Bay. Many Bengals players wanted to take a knee prior to playing Green Bay, but not a single player did so. Multiple sources tell me there was an ‘emergency team meeting’ held with one goal, to make sure players did not kneel. A thread.
“He pretty much says, ‘I don’t want you guys kneeling.’ He said our fans will crush us,” one player who remains anonymous told sports anchor/reporter Elise Jesse.
Another player backed the version.
“He just begged, like really begged. That was my first time seeing or hearing anything like that — very emotional. That was my only time seeing that it was different. The bottom line is that he was begging us, please do not kneel. He didn’t want the backfire that was going to come from it.”
The moment came after Sept. 22, 2017, when President Donald Trump called on league owners to release anyone who got involved in the movement, which was ignited by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick the year before.
The next day, the Cincinnati Bengals got on a flight to Green Bay to face the Packers. As the idea of kneeling that Sunday picked up steam across the NFL, some Bengals players were also thinking of kneeling during the anthem.
Justin Aller /Getty Images
Jesse reported speaking to more than 10 players. many requesting anonymity. However, former Bengals safety George Iloka (pictured above) spoke on the record about a players’ meeting.
“… A lot of people, myself in particular, wanted to kneel,” Iloka said. “It was a big issue and that was weighing heavily on my heart, it was weighing heavy on my mind, and obviously it was weighing heavy on a lot of people’s hearts and minds across the NFL, and across the nation particularly with African Americans. It wasn’t just me that felt some kind away about that.”
… “It was about 50% African Americans and 50% of my Caucasian brothers and it was only about 30 people. The meeting left pretty much just like, the African American players feeling like we want to kneel, and then it was the white players telling us, ‘you guys don’t need to do that.’
“It’s almost like saying ‘Go be oppressed somewhere else and keep it out of my sight.’ That sort of thing. So, you know it was like, I understand that you don’t get how we feel and we are not asking you to join us, but just stop telling us not to.”
The report says other players support Iloka’s version.
Players who were present in the meeting remember Iloka’s courage during an uncomfortable moment as he made his voice heard and began to explain the reasons why he felt it necessary to join the movement and take a knee during the national anthem before his team faced Green Bay.
Timothy Ludwig/Getty Images
One former Bengals player, Preston Brown, was on the Buffalo Bills in 2017. He says had he taken a knee that season, Cincinnati never would have signed him the following year.
“That’s the biggest regret I have is not taking a knee that day because I was just so scared to do it. I know what could happen afterward,” said Brown, currently a Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker. “You have to play this role as an athlete and toe the line to make sure they still like you. I can’t be all the way black.
“… If I were to take a knee that day, I definitely wouldn’t have played for the Bengals,” he said. “It was in OTAs or something like that, we had a meeting of like 20 guys, and they asked me and Cordy (Glenn) because we came from Buffalo where guys had taken a knee, and they said ‘We are not going to do that here. We don’t need that attention. We don’t need that type of display of protest,’ and that was something that was weird to me.”
The New York Knicks are interviewing Golden State Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown for their head coaching opening.
Joining the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks won’t be finishing out the remainder of the 2019-20 season in Orlando. With an early jumpstart on the offseason, the Knicks can turn their attention to their current head coaching vacancy. New Knicks President Leon Rose will be in charge of finding a replacement for David Fizdale on the sidelines.
As the Knicks’ coaching carousel heats up, a bevy of names have surfaced as potential candidates, including Golden State’s associate head coach Mike Brown. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Knicks are interviewing Brown for their head coaching vacancy. Ian Begley of SNY confirmed The Athletic’s report.
The New York Knicks are interviewing Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown for their head coaching job, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA@Stadium.
SNY reported last week that there was internal interest from NYK in interviewing both Mike Brown and Jason Kidd during the head-coaching search. Brown now has an interview scheduled with NYK, league sources confirm. First reported by The Athletic.
Prior to joining Golden State, Brown has head coaching experience with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In eight seasons as a head coach, Brown has a 347-216 (.616%) record as a head coach. In 2009, Brown earned the NBA’s Coach of the Year honor. With LeBron James in his fourth season, Brown helped lead the Cavaliers to the Finals against the San Antonio Spurs in 2007.
Brown filled in as Golden State’s acting head coach when Steve Kerr missed time due to back issues. With Kerr out, Brown led the Warriors to a 12-0 run through the 2017 playoffs. Brown’s been apart of Golden State’s coaching staff for a pair of championships. Since 2015, Alvin Gentry and Luke Walton have left Kerr’s coaching staff for head coaching positions.
Brown joins a long list of reported candidates for the Knicks, including Tom Thibodeau, former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, Dallas assistant Jamahl Mosley, San Antonio assistants Becky Hammon and Will Hardy, 76ers assistant Ime Udoka and others.
