CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns have spoken to an NFL investigator who has been investigating claims by former coach Hue Jackson, who said the team intentionally lost games during the 2016 and 2017 seasons — tanked.
Jackson, now coaching at Grambling State, was fired by Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam after eight games in the 2018 season with a 3-36-1 record.
In February, Jackson stated in a series of social media posts that the team paid him bonuses that encouraged him to lose and that he was doomed. Jackson later softened these claims.
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The Browns went 1-15 in 2016 and 0-16 in 2017.
Spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed that the league had hired former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White to investigate Jackson’s allegations.
“The review is ongoing and expected to be completed soon,” McCarthy said in an email to The Associated Press.
The team released a statement Monday night saying it had been cooperating with the league in its investigation.
“Even though Hue retracted his allegations shortly after they were made, it was important for us and the integrity of the game to have independent verification of the allegations,” said team spokesman Peter Jean-Baptiste. “We welcomed an investigation and are confident that the results will show, as we have said, that these allegations are categorically false.
“We have worked with Mary Jo White and are excited about the results.”