Hall of Fame Browns RB Jim Brown takes aim at owner Randy Lerner

Jim Brown is as outspoken as ever. (Getty Images)

As someone who revolutionized the position, it's a safe bet that Hall of Famer Jim Brown doesn't feel that teams should avoid taking running backs in the first round (it's a topic we've beaten into the ground on many occasions). Maybe it's just that he's not particularly impressed with Trent Richardson's playing style. As coincidence would have it, the Browns, where Brown played for nine years, selected Richardson with the third overall in April's NFL Draft.

“When you think of greatness and the great backs, they all had some individual traits that you can identify -- quickness, balance, power, speed,” Brown told ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi Wednesday. “I think the kid is a good working back, and if you've got everything else around him he can play his role. But when it comes to outstanding, I don't see anything outstanding about him. It's not said in a cruel manner. He's very efficient, and that's what you want.”

Brown has long been critical of the only organization for which he played, and that hasn't changed as he's gotten older. In fact, if anything, he's become more vocal. During a Friday appearance on NFL Network's Total Access, Brown shared his thoughts on team owner Randy Lerner.

"I think that the owner, and I have to be very candid with you, is trying to turn all the power over to someone else," Brown told NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano. "I don't think that's possible. I think that the owner is ultimately going to be the leader and I think until Randy takes that position, it's going to be difficult.

"(Team president Mike) Holmgren is a fine executive, but he is not the owner, and I think the players know that. So I think the players feel that they don't have that top dog sitting there in that office so they can feel that they have great leadership from the top. There's always a question mark when your owner is in England."

To be fair, the Browns have a long history of failure that predates the franchise's return to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999. And it's seldom the case that a fanbase complains that the owner isn't meddlesome enough. (Redskins' and Cowboys' fans would happily welcome Lerner's level of involvement in their respect favorite teams.) That said, Brown's general point stands: "You're sitting on a mess."

And if using two first-round picks on Richardson and 28-year-old quarterback Brandon Weeden don't yield immediate results, there's a chance Holmgren and head coach Pat Shurmur will be out of jobs next offseason. It will take more than another losing season, however, to unseat Lerner as owner.

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