There are plenty of good things going on with Tennessee athletics. It’s a good thing that are plenty of things to keep Jimmy Haslam busy.
The Haslam family has been great for the Vols for several decades. However, the Vols are better off with Haslam being a booster, not the booster.
There’s not much that could derail Tennessee’s overall success in athletics. The most noteworthy sports – football, mens’ basketball, womens’ basketball and baseball – are in in great shape. They’re either trending upwards or, in the case of the baseball Vols, dominant. The non-revenue sports are performing at a high level too. The last thing Tennessee needs is something nefarious afoot.
Those sorts of things tend to follow Haslam around. While always willing to accept a check, Tennessee probably started allowing Haslam less influence by the design of both parties. The days of one huge booster running the show are pretty antiquated. Meanwhile, Haslam had his eye on purchasing the Cleveland Browns, which he did in 2012.
Since then, things have been rather volatile for the oil heir whose father, Jim Haslam, was more synonymous with Tennessee football than the vast majority of players who donned the orange and white.
The younger Haslam has infuriated more people than gas prices. The heat on Haslam began to rise when the FBI investigated Pilot Oil for price gouging minority convenient store owners. Haslam didn’t steal any money directly. However, the scandal was rampant in the company. Trust me. I’ve heard the FBI tapes. It was bad and it happened under Haslam’s watch, therefore, he carries some of the blame even though he didn’t face charges.
Let’s fast forward to 2017 when Haslam said, “I had nothing to do with the coaching search at Tennessee,” after Jeremy Pruitt was fired following a period of mass chaos in the athletic department. It was a good time for Haslam to distance himself. The door was rotating for athletic directors and coaches as John Currie tried to hire a couple of candidates only to be usurped by the unidentified powers behind the scenes. It’s difficult for me to believe that Haslam wasn’t at all involved. However, if he wasn’t, that had to be by design. Let other boosters, like Charlie Anderson, make the call. He doesn’t have an NFL team to run.
Now to present day, Haslam is the NFL owner that all other owners hate. He’s the owner who gave a historically massive guaranteed contract to a player who has been accused of sexual assault by 66 women. That’s not a typo. Sixty-six. Haslam is also the owner who apparently circumvented the NFL’s pending suspension of Watson by agreeing to pay him just a measly $1 million in 2022. Don’t worry about Watson. He can get through the lean times this year knowing he has $230 million coming his way over the next five years. That’s almost $3.5 million per accuser. If need be, Watson can surely pay them off. He can live off of endorsement money. He just has to find the right fit. There has to be a chain of massage parlors in Cleveland.
Haslam signed Watson to a contract that dwarfed all others knowing that he would likely be suspended for much of the 2022 season, if not all of it. Haslam basically told the NFL, Browns’ fans and anyone listening that he knew Watson was guilty enough to face a lengthy suspension. That’s evident by the terms of the contract. Still, Haslam signed him. The move was aggressive, but more like desperate. “Slimy” is probably the best way to describe the unprecedented personnel move. How about just “dumb”?
Perhaps we should give Haslam a bit of break. After all, when he signed Watson, the quarterback was only being accused by 22 women. That’s not nearly as bad as 66, right?
Ask around in football circles and you’ll find one thing that is consistent when getting a massage. It’s consistently the same masseuse. Players tend to settle on one masseuse for their entire career, especially players of Watson’s caliber. Yet, he at least had massages from 66 different women. That number alone is more enlightening than even Watson’s contract numbers. Sixty-six.
Watson has not been charged and that’s very, very important to remember. He may be totally innocent. He’s not.
For Haslam, he is running out of people to offend. He’s already ticked off a large group of minorities and any female who has heard the depth of the Watson accusations. What’s left?
Tennessee fans don’t want to be in those cross hairs. Tennessee and the Haslams will always be connected like family. However, everyone needs a break from their family. This seems like a good time for a Haslam timeout.
