The Baltimore Ravens have a new president, Sashi Brown. Brown’s hiring makes him the NFL’s second African-American franchise president. Jason Wright is the first. Brown, a Hampton University graduate, was a former executive with the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Wizards before joining the Ravens.
According to the Baltimoresun, when Brown takes over in March, he will be in charge of the organization’s commercial operations, including financing, budgeting, non-football staff, corporate sales, operations, communications, and business endeavors. Dick Cass, the Ravens’ current team president, is retiring after 18 years with the organization.
Brown, 45, is a Harvard Law School graduate. He began his legal career in 2002, shortly after graduating from law school, at Cass’ firm, Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale, and Dorr in Washington. He represented a variety of clients in sports-related transactions, mergers, and acquisitions while at the law firm.
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He was nominated for a senior vice president and general counsel position with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he spent eight years. In 2013, he was recruited as executive vice president and general counsel by the Cleveland Browns, where he served in both football and business positions.
Brown was elevated to executive vice president of football operations in Cleveland in 2016. According to Baltimoresun, while he did well in the business side of the organization, his stint resulted in few wins, and he was sacked in December 2017.
Despite this, he had a key role in altering the team’s personnel.
“[Sashi] did a great job accumulating the picks and the cap to the point where he could go out and get any player he wanted…,” Jabrill Peppers, a former Browns safety, commented about Brown’s contributions to the team.
“It takes a lot of patience, which I don’t believe many people possess.” Even if they don’t want to credit it to him, they are receiving the benefits of his labor now. He’s involved in a lot of what’s going on.”
Brown eventually joined the NBA as president of Monumental Basketball and special advisor to Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, where he oversaw operations for the NBA’s Wizards, WNBA’s Mystics, and NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go.
He was given a multi-year extension by Monumental three months before his job with the Ravens, but he declined.
Brown, a Boston native, graduated from Hampton University in 1998 and went on to Harvard Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctorate in 2002. He has three children and is married.
