In February, Hue Jackson claimed he was incentivized to lose games while being the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2016 and 2017. He said the team had a four-year plan in place to stockpile their roster with high draft picks.
It didn’t take long for the Browns to respond to those allegations.
According to ProFootballTalk, Bart H. Williams of the Proskauer law firm sent the Browns a letter that demanded Jackson to “immediately cease and desist from making any further comments suggesting that anyone involved with the Browns organization sought to lose games while you where the head coach.”
Additionally, the letter warns Jackson that any claim stating the Browns wanted to lose games or incentivized him to is defamation.
Though this letter was sent earlier this year, it’s not surprising to see it surface now. On Monday, the NFL provided an update on its investigation into this matter.
The NFL revealed that it found no evidence of wrongdoing by the Browns during Jackson’s tenure.
“Following a 60-day independent review into comments made by former Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson that the Browns paid or otherwise provided incentives to lose games during the 2016-17 seasons, former U.S. Attorney and SEC Chair Mary Jo White and a team of lawyers from the Debevoise firm determined that none of the allegations could be substantiated,” the league’s statement read. “The investigation found no evidence to suggest that the Browns’ Four-Year Plan or the club’s ownership or football personnel sought to lose or incentivized losses and made no decisions deliberately to weaken the team to secure a more favorable draft position.”
This matter will most likely be put to rest.
Jackson is currently the head coach of Grambling State University’s football team.