He was beat by Al Davis, William Ford, and Dan Snyder.  I can see putting Ford ahead I guess, but Mike Brown should have made second.  Grandpa Al at least has three Super Bowls, so he should be ranked after Ford and Brown.

Five Worst NFL Owners

5 Denise DeBartolo York San Francisco 49ers Took control 2000

Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships N/A $865M 53-75 .417 2 0 Niners fans long for the days of Eddie DeBartolo, who was once the envy of the NFL and produced five Super Bowl champions. Following his part in a riverboat-corruption scandal, DeBartolo's sister wrested control of the proud franchise in 2000 and handed the reigns to her husband, John York. Since then the 49ers have become one of the biggest train wrecks in the NFL. Many believe York's curt style is the reason the city of San Francisco isn't willing to work with the team to provide a new stadium within city limits, which is forcing the Niners to look south to Santa Clara County.

4 Mike Brown Cincinnati Bengals Inherited 1991

Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships N/A $941M 99-186-1 .351 1 0 Brown did his legendary father proud by refusing to sell the Bengals' stadium naming rights and keeping it Paul Brown Stadium. But that's about the only tribute he has paid to dad's legacy. For some teams, operating without a general manager works -- take New England, for example. It doesn't in Cincinnati. Despite 17 non-winning seasons in the past 18 years, the junior Brown refuses to hire a GM, a stubborn stance that's the first target of scorn from the long-suffering fans. The scouting department is also notoriously the most understaffed in the NFL, while under Brown's reign, Bengals players have made the news for criminal acts off the field almost as often as for their failings on it.

3 Dan Snyder Washington Redskins Purchased 1999

Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships $750M $1,538M 70-74 .488 3 0 Snyder is a good businessman and spares no expense with one of the most profitable franchises in sports. But maybe that's the problem: The young billionaire runs the team more like a first-time fantasy-football manager. Among the most expensive outlays: nearly $225 million committed to LaVar Arrington, Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Laveranues Coles and Adam Archuleta. Though those mistakes were at beginning of Snyder's tenure, Washington still hasn't come anywhere near the Super Bowl and has had five head coaches during his decade of ownership. Think Snyder learned his lesson? This past offseason, he locked up three players -- Albert Haynesworth, DeAngelo Hall and Derrick Dockery -- for a combined $162M.

2 William Clay Ford Detroit Lions Purchased 1964

Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships $5M $917M 281-374-13 .411 9 0 That the Lions became the first NFL team to go 0-16 last season is just the beginning of the team's problems. Detroit has become the league's laughingstock since the auto magnate bought the team 45 years ago, making the playoffs only nine times and winning just one postseason game. Ford blindly stuck by his player-turned-top executive Matt Millen for seven years despite the team's greatest stretch of incompetence. Under Millen's reign, the Lions didn't post a single winning season, never finished higher than third in the NFC North and never came within a sniff of the playoffs. Yet he was rewarded with a multi-year extension at the start of the '05 season before Ford finally fired him three years later.

1 Al Davis Oakland Raiders Purchased 1966

Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships $180,000 $861M 368-264-8 .569 21 4 It's hard to knock three Super Bowl titles, one AFL championship and 21 postseason appearances since Davis bought into the former AFL franchise. Problem is, the game has passed the Hall of Famer by and he seems to be the only one who doesn't know it. Since the Raiders were blown out in Super Bowl XXVII, they've gone a league-worst 24-72 and have blazed through five head coaches since '01, including the fiasco over is-he-or-isn't-he-fired Lane Kiffin this past season. All this ignores the real problem: that Davis is out of touch, refuses to adapt and continues to be infatuated with speedsters (this year the team inexplicably drafted Darrius Heyward-Bey with the No. 7-overall pick) instead of building a deep roster that can compete.

The best are also listed.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/05/08/nfl.owners/index.html

I think this is a great article. But in my book MikeyBoy is absolutely THE worst! Even Ford has a better winning percentage and more playoff appearances. I think I read somewhere, maybe WhoDeyRevolution that the Bengals aren't just the worst football franchise, they're the worst professional sports franchise, period!

The bungs are worth $941M??? WTF?!! They are worth more than the Raiders??? Wow!

It must include the stadium.

The winning percentage says it all. Mikey is hands down the #1 worst NFL owner. Al Davis has had great successes and Snyder tries his damndest to win. They can't compare to the awfulness that is Mike Brown.

Anyone else think Denise DeBartolo




bears a striking resemblance to this lady?:



"I think I will try to stick to conversations that don't involve politics." - murf, April 17 2009

The list is probably based more on recency than anything else. Really, the only person who you can even attempt to argue has had a worse career than Brown is the Niners' owner as she has nothing good on her record.

The Fords, as horrible as they are, at least had a franchise that made the playoffs every now and again at one time. If you wanted to argue who was worse in the last DECADE, I'd say there's no contest, the Fords have been worse. But OVERALL, they've accomplished more (in football operations) than Mikey has.

Senile Al Davis is worse than Mike Brown. Pre-senile-Al Davis buries Mike Brown. Congratulations Mikey! You're a better owner than someone who probably suffers from advanced-stage Alzheimer's!

Snyder is way better than Mike Brown. A) At least he shows a committed effort to winning, as misguided as that effort may be, B) Washington has made the playoffs two more times than Cincinnati has. Is Snyder awful? No doubt. But worse than Clown Brown? Not on your life.

BMN

This article is crap. Anyone can see brownhole is the worst of the bunch as his winning % is a full 5 points below any of the other owners.

It is shocking though that the team is worth more than the '9ers or the Raiders, especially since they are in the bay area market. I wonder how much the sweetheart stadium deal plays a role in that.

Should we all email the author of this article and give him crap for not appreciating the plight of bungle fans? I don't think we should blow this off. For him to even compare the situation of Redskin and 49er fans to the ours is just insulting and belittling of our pain. I will go along with the Lions and Raiders though, they may be just as hopeless as we are.

"We do do, and we do it at a very, very high level," Lewis said.

Yo USC3--I have a question for you--who is worse--Donald Sterling or Mike Brown?!?!?!??!?!?!?

You would think that sharing an arena with basketball's most prestigious franchise in the last 20 years (The LA Lakers) would place some sort of relevance on your franchise--but I guess you can say the same thing about the NY Giants vs. NY Jets--IT DOESN'T.





"So he got fired? Big deal. It's happened to the best of us. So he got kicked out of his house by his 400 lb'ed wife?!?!? That's probably better for him anyways."-OldSchooler on ChrisMBHater's absence

You would be right about the Wicked Witch of the West comparison. According to No Cali's--mainly SF 49er Cheese & Wine eating fans--they would like to throw some water on that b*tch--and watch her melt. Bring back her f*cking brother. That woman sucks.





"So he got fired? Big deal. It's happened to the best of us. So he got kicked out of his house by his 400 lb'ed wife?!?!? That's probably better for him anyways."-OldSchooler on ChrisMBHater's absence

It's funny...Dan Snyder really is a polarizing figure. Some lists have him as a top owner. Same with Jerry Jones. A year or two ago, some website ranked both of these guys behind only Kraft in New England and ahead of good owners like Rooney in Pittsburgh, Laurie in Philly, Bowlen in Denver, etc.

Right now, I would have to say the the bottom three in any given order would be Brown, Davis, and Debartolo-York. Brown has been inept for 18+ years. Davis has lost his mind the past few years. And Debartolo-York inherited a GREAT franchise and ran it into the ground. As far as RIGHT NOW, after this past draft, I would say Davis is the worst. Brown second worst. Debartolo-York third worst (at least the Niners that past couple of seasons have been making an effort to win).

How about Ralph Wilson?!?!??!?!?!?!?? And really, do the Bidwells really get a free pass for one great year? They're both not Mikey--but still, these guys really do suck too. Throw some water on these guys as well.





"So he got fired? Big deal. It's happened to the best of us. So he got kicked out of his house by his 400 lb'ed wife?!?!? That's probably better for him anyways."-OldSchooler on ChrisMBHater's absence

Bill Bidwell's son has been running the team for the past couple of years I believe, so the change in guard helps.

We're seeing this in hockey with the Chicago Blackhawks...Bill Wirtz was a cheap ass like Brown/Wilson in the NHL to the point that he would only televise home games on PPV! He dies, his son takes over, televises games, enlarges the fan base, fans come to games, the team spends money and gets better, and the Blackhawks two years removed from the death of Wirtz are in the Western Conference Finals 4 wins away from making it to the Stanley Cup Finals!

So, I wouldn't give Bidwell a free pass, but with the change of guard, they are definitely a step above Brown, Debartolo-York, Wilson, Ford, and Davis.