Haslam takes in Family Night

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Jimmy Haslam III, who recently agreed to purchase a controlling interest in the Cleveland Browns, was at the team's Family Night practice at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Wednesday.

During his time at the practice, Haslam greeted the fans, posed for photos, signed autographs and spoke with the media. In short order, Haslam learned about the importance of winning in Cleveland.

"I was telling some friends back home and they said, 'What were your two main impressions?' I said, 'First of all, I've never seen people who like football as much as this community does. Second of all, we need to win.' That's actually 1 and 1A," Haslam said.

Haslam told the media that the fan response to him and his family has been "unbelievable" since the announcement of the sale last week.

"Friday night, Dee and I were staying downtown and went out to dinner," Haslam said. "It was just people coming up and shaking hands, so happy and fired up and my main takeaway is, 'We want to win.' We feel the responsibility to do that and we're going to work hard to do it."

When Haslam returned to Cleveland for the Family Night practice, he did not come alone. He was accompanied by his brother, Tennessee governor, Bill Haslam. Jimmy Haslam said his brother was "very impressed" with the excitement around town and atmosphere at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

"I don't know if he's going to make any comparisons to any other AFC towns, but he's like, 'You can't help but be impressed by the fans, right?'" Haslam said of his brother. "I sent the family a long email when we got back in town Saturday night and they'll all be here at various times. They'll be here for all the games and some of the exhibitions, but you have to be here and experience this to really get an appreciation for the fans and that's what happened Thursday night, Friday and Saturday and certainly happened again today.

"I feel very fortunate this Fan Appreciation Night was tonight in our first week, where we could come and shake people's hands, talk to people. It's been a lot of fun. We've had a chance to meet several hundred people, which is outstanding."

Prior to Wednesday night's practice, Haslam took a tour of Cleveland Browns Stadium last weekend. He walked around the facility and is thinking about ways in which he could improve the stadium experience.

"We spent a couple hours literally walking the stadium," Haslam said. "We didn't go out on the field because they were still fixing it from the Chesney concert. We went in the locker rooms, sat in the Dawg Pound, walked all different levels of the seats and got a good feel for it. Over a period of time, we're going to enhance the stadium, make it a better place for the fans. It's not going to happen quickly. Enhancing the stadium takes some time, but we're committed to doing that for the great fans in Cleveland."