NFL owners and winners from week one- from Forbes

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Monte Burke, Forbes Staff

I'm a feature-writer (mostly sports) and an editor of ForbesLife

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SportsMoney | 9/10/2013 @ 10:54AM |1,230 views NFL Owners: Week One Winners And Losers

 

 

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I love Week One in the NFL. Every game is overanalyzed, and suddenly becomes a microcosm of a season yet to be. (Chip Kelly for Coach COH +0.13% of the Year! The Kansas City Chiefs will make the Super Bowl!) I can overreact with the best of them. Here are a few overreactions about the men who own these NFL franchises. In general, these guys are wise: franchise values rose to an average of $1.2 billion this year, up 5% from last year and 30% from seven years ago. Owning an NFL team remains a great investment.  But the owners, too, have good days and bad.

The winners and losers from Week One.

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The Winners

–Pat Bowlen, Denver Broncos (team value: $1.16 billion): Bowlen and his front office guru, John Elway, rolled the dice a bit last year, signing an injured Peyton Manning to a 5-year, $96 million contract. The gamble paid off, despite a devastating loss in last year’s AFC Championship game to the Baltimore Ravens. Manning showed signs that he might even be better this year, throwing 7 touchdown passes in a Week One rout of those same Ravens.

–Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys (team value: $2.3 billion): Jones recently convinced AT&T to sign an estimated $500 million, 25-year naming rights deal for what was known as Cowboys Stadium. His team christened the newly-named digs with a victory over their sloppy rivals, the New York Giants.

–Jeffrey Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles (team value: $1.3 billion): Lurie shook up his franchise this off-season, firing longtime coach, Andy Reid, and replacing him with former University of Oregon coach, Chip Kelly, who is known for his frenetic, up-tempo offense. Pundits wondered how that college scheme would work in the pros. The answer, based on the tiny sample size of one game, is pretty darn well. Lurie’s Eagles pretty much blew the Washington Redskins out of the building in the first half last night, rolling on to victory.

–Woody Johnson, New York Jets (team value: $1.38 billion): On Sunday, Johnson woke up really late on Sunday afternoon, checked his Blackberry and said: “What? We won?!?!?” Yes. You did.

The Losers

–Dan Snyder, Washington Redskins (team value: $1.7 billion): Snyder’s Redskins got steamrolled by the aforementioned Eagles. Quarterback Robert Griffin III looked rusty and not quite ready for the season, just eight months after his knee surgery. And the pressure on Snyder to change his team’s name—which is deemed offensive to some Native American groups—continues to gain steam.

–The Rooneys, Pittsburgh Steelers (team value: $1.2 billion): The Steelers lost their home opener to the Tennessee Titans with one of the most miserable offensive displays in recent NFL history. Behind a supposedly revamped and improved offensive line, the Steelers offense managed only 32 yards rushing on 15 attempts, and crossed the 50-yard-line only twice. The Rooneys may have lost their mojo.

–Jimmy Haslam, Cleveland Browns (team value: $1 billion): The Browns lost again, to the Miami Dolphins. And Haslam himself remains in hot water, with more than two dozen suits filed against his Pilot Flying J company for fraud. The FBI and IRS raided his company’s offices on tax day this year.

–Stephen Bisciotti, Baltimore Ravens (team value: $1.23 billion): The reclusive Bisciotti and his defending Super Bowl champion team got off to a very rough start. First, they were forced to open on the road because the Baltimore Orioles wouldn’t change a home game. Then, they got walloped by the Broncos. And then they got to watch former star wide receiver, Anquan Boldin, have a career day with his new team, the San Francisco 49ers.

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Check out Woody write- up - Hah