Update II: LeCharles Bentley has settled his lawsuit against the Cleveland Browns stemming from the staph infection he suffered following a knee injury back in 2006. And it was all solved by a face-to-face meeting between Bentley and Randy Lerner back in June, and there’s some good for the community in this agreement, not just a check for Bentley.
“These last six years have been the most trying time of my life, but now that it is over I can honestly say I am a better man for having gone through it,” Bentley said in a statement Monday night. “Randy Lerner and I – two men born and raised in Cleveland – were able to sit down face to face back in June and come to an agreement that was fair.”
The only part of the agreement that was announced is a scholarship program at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland. Bentley asked and Lerner agreed that the Browns fund six scholarships for underprivileged kids at Bentley’s alma mater. The scholarship program will continue for 20 years.
“One hundred and twenty young men will be blessed with a scholarship to attend one of the most academically and athletically rigorous schools in the country,” Bentley said. “(To) a school that not only provides a great education, but also molds boys into responsible men. This is another example of the good things the Lerner family does for this city that nobody ever hears about.”
Good on both guys for this.
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This article appears in Aug 8-14, 2012.
Leave it to the Greater Cleveland Partnership to be on the wrong-headed side of yet another issue. My initial thought was, “What on EARTH business does GCP have sticking its nose in on THIS issue?” The pretext is pretty thin, even by the gossamer-thin standards of Chamber-speak…Then I remembered…Fred Nance OWNS GCP, and he’s the Browns’ general counsel…
Yeah, I remember this. The two guys in the entire NFL that actually wanted to come to Cleveland to help out the team both get infections and then the team goes all hush-hush about it. Regardless of whats in the contract, this was another PR train wreck for the Browns. Yet, we wonder why we can’t lure big free agents here?
Rebuilding since ’64…
I’m glad that Lerner and Bentley were men about this and tried to hammer it out themselves out of court. Even steered some money to a local high school scholarship that will allow many, many kids to go to one of the best schools around.
It’s still horrible that this happened to Bentley and the Browns. We went from having a pro bowl center to having nothing in one big pouf. Who knows what would have happened in 07 if we had him as center on the line. Maybe we win one more game because of him and make the playoffs, and with how hot we were, who knows how far we could have gone.