Hugh Franklin Culverhouse, Sr. (February 20, 1919 - August 26, 1994) is the longtime owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He is a successful tax lawyer, and his real estate investment makes him one of the richest men in the country. His work brings him into contact with the owners of the National Football League team, and the failed purchase of the Los Angeles Rams puts him in line to become the owner of the newborn Buccaneer franchise. He has a team from start to death.
Culverhouse became one of the most influential team owners in the NFL. Although his team is rarely competitive in the field, he is credited with modernizing the league. He oversaw the direction of the league through two player attacks, and the financial stability of the modern leagues was largely due to his leadership. He held influence for over a decade, before stepping back because of criticism about what other owners see as way too secretive.
Culverhouse was initially praised for bringing professional football to the Tampa Bay area, but ended up being blamed for the team's struggle. His refusal to pay Doug Williams at a salary level comparable to the league's quarterbacks sparked resentment among fans, and marked the beginning of the team's decline during the 1980s. This further leads to the belief that Culverhouse is more concerned with fielding a team that is profitable than winning. The NFL record-record Buccaneers of fourteen consecutive seasons of loss contributed to this perception, although Culverhouse made some important efforts to improve the team.
Culverhouse was diagnosed with cancer in 1992, and died in 1994. The obvious attempt to get rid of his wife from her inheritance led to the disclosure of posthumous extramarital affairs. Filing a lawsuit led to a ownership crisis that almost required the team to move to another city, before the Glazer family stepped forward with a purchase offer.
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Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Culverhouse attended the University of Alabama, where he became a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon (Psi Chapter). At the Alabama University boxing team, he competes with future governor George Wallace, an experience he believes in the next life. He graduated in 1941. After serving at the Army Air Corps in World War II, he obtained a law degree from his alma mater in 1947. He immediately took a job as an assistant state attorney general, serving there for two years. After serving in the Korean War, he became a legal advisor to the Internal Revenue Service, where he demanded many cases resulting from the investigation of organized crime Senator Estes Kefauver. He resigned from the IRS in 1962 after a decade of service, and moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he entered private practice, specializing in tax law. Although he is considered one of the country's foremost tax lawyers, whose case is sometimes cited by the United States Supreme Court, his fortune builds on real estate investments. Installed by Forbes magazine as one of the 250 richest people in the United States, he eventually had an investment in 37 companies and was worth more than $ 380 million at the time of his death. He served as personal representative of President Gerald Ford, carrying the title of US Ambassador, at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. The College of Commerce and Business Administration of Culverhouse University was named for her.
Culverhouse's investment includes several banks, Provincetown-Boston Airlines, Palmer Ranch real estate development near Sarasota, Florida, and film production including A Chorus Line and The Emerald Forest. He was criticized for the planned extension of Interstate 75 to South Florida, as it routes directly across land owned by many powerful investors, including Culverhouse, Governor Bob Graham, State Attorney General Jim Smith, and Arvida Corporation.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ownership
In 1972, Culverhouse had a handshake deal to buy Los Angeles Rams from the owner of Dan Reeves for $ 17 million, only to find out that Reeves then sold the team to Robert Irsay for $ 19 million. When Irsay later traded with the owner of Baltimore Colts, Carroll Rosenbloom, Culverhouse sued, claiming that the others were conspiring to prevent his team's purchase. An out-of-court settlement ensures Rosenbloom helps get an expansion franchise for Culverhouse. The opportunity came two years later, when the league was extended to Seattle and Tampa. Culverhouse was offered a Seattle franchise expansion, but refused it because of his residence in Jacksonville. The owner of the Philadelphia construction company Thomas McCloskey was initially awarded a Tampa franchise, but soon found business arrangements to be different from what he expected, and backed away from the deal. Culverhouse was later awarded a franchise by the NFL Expansion Committee headed by Art Rooney, in front of the Fort Lauderdale furniture chain (and future Boston Celtics owner) Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. The name "Tampa Bay Buccaneers" was chosen as a nod to a team representing not only the city of Tampa, but the entire Florida Suncoast area; and to the pirates who once inhabited the area.
Culverhouse quickly became one of the most influential NFL owners; he serves as a member of the Club Club Relations Committee that handles player complaints, and the NFL Congress Committee. He was a member of the Executive Committee that handled negotiations during the 1982 NFL strike, an experience that earned him great praise from NFL negotiator Jack Donlan. Donlan praised Culverhouse's logic, analytical, and problem-solving skills, and his effectiveness "on the way". Culverhouse is credited with having a great hand in the owner's travel direction during the strike, and is responsible for recruiting Donlan as a negotiator. He repeated his role during the 1987 strike, after which NFLPA President Gene Upshaw described him as "tough", and said that "sometimes, the whole league appears to flow from this one man". He is chairman of the NFL Financial Committee and Executive Committee of the Management Board. His business was instrumental in bringing the Super Bowl XVIII to Tampa, despite the lack of adequate hotel space in the city. Culverhouse is also a pioneer in using computers to handle team finances and surveillance reports. He is a member of a four-man committee who abandoned the ownership of the New England Patriots from the Sullivans when their debt became too great. Patriots founder Billy Sullivan later accused Culverhouse of blocking his efforts to propose the sale of shares that would alleviate debt. Culverhouse distanced himself from the nucleus of NFL power in later years, stung by critics of other owners of the Management Board. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue praised Culverhouse for building many of the strengths and unity of modern NFL.
General criticism
Culverhouse was criticized by other team owners as the team prepared for his debut season, saying that his involvement in day-to-day team operations was reminiscent of Falcons and Saints expansion owners, a team that has not qualified for the playoffs after a decade of play. Buccaneer employees are described living in a "fearful atmosphere", especially after the 1977 execution of executives involved with Culverhouse's unpopular decision at the time. In one case, marketing director Bill Marcum was sacked for public reaction to a $ 12 team ticket price for an exhibit in Jacksonville, even though Culverhouse had set ticket prices, and Marcum had opposed them.
Conflicts of allegations of interest
Culverhouse was named one of Rosenbloom's real estate executives, and after the death of Rosenbloom, Culverhouse resumed business relations with his widow, Georgia. Georgian wedding with composer Dominic Frontiere takes place at Culverhouse's house, with Culverhouse himself, a notary, performing the ceremony. The relationship, in which Culverhouse served as an advisor to the Los Angeles Rams while retaining possession of the Buccaneers, was criticized as a conflict of interest. The Los Angeles Coliseum Board accused Rams of seeking Culverhouse's advice when several players survived during the 1980s preseason; The Buccaneers won a 10-9 win over the same Rams team unprepared at the start of the season. Culverhouse also oversaw the reorganization of Rams' front office; the relationship gave him the nickname "Godfather" of the Rams. Culverhouse and Frontiere are two of the owners named in the lawsuit filed by Al Davis, who alleges that their campaign donation to Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia is an attempt to buy his support in helping to prevent Davis's planned move from Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles.
Culverhouse relationships with other NFL owners sometimes, as in relation to the Rams, are thought to be a conflict of interest. A $ 3 million loan to help Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose with gambling debt is one example, for violating the NFL's constitution and regulations. On another occasion, he was criticized for his overly secret ways as Chairman of the NFL's Finance Committee, as other league owners found it difficult to get information on how the league's finances were being spent. In particular, the owner was disappointed not to be informed of the money given to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in a 5-year extension of his contract. An extension was granted to him by the Financial Committee as a reward for league television contract negotiations in 1982, although Rozelle has five years left on his current contract.
Loss of popular support
Culverhouse was described in late 1982 as a rare owner popular with players, coaches, and fans. He is praised for allowing his staff to handle uninterrupted soccer operations, and has the patience to allow John McKay to follow up his building plans despite the early 0-26 franchise. This changed after the events surrounding the 1982 strike. A report released by the National Football League Players Association before the start of the negotiations revealed that Buccaneers had the fifth highest gross revenue of all the NFL teams, while their average salary was only the 21st highest. This is directly contrary to the statements made by Culverhouse in 1980, where he told the players that they were in one of the three highest paid teams. NFLPA figures show that Buccaneers are actually the third lowest -going team, based on total wages as a percentage of gross income. Culverhouse was later accused of trying to divide the players during the strike, when several team assistant coaches contacted the players to ask if they would be willing to return to the team if the training facility reopened.
Culverhouse is thought to have drawn closer friendships from an owner to his coach, having guaranteed John McKay's job for life. As the team begins to lose, regional fans blame McKay, and feel that there is no hope for any change. He was, however, credited with recognizing the need for change in leadership, when he went outside the organization to find a replacement when McKay retired. He then frustrates fans by broadcasting ads thanking fans for their support, while raising ticket prices simultaneously. \
However, while Culverhouse's relationship with Tampa has been problematic for years, Bo Jackson 1986 Damage Plan permanently damages the reputation of the owner in his hometown. Jackson, the Heisman Cup winner who returned from Auburn, was the number 1 consensus player heading to the draft. But Jackson disliked Culverhouse from their first meeting, then wrote in his book Bo Knows Bo that the owner of Bucs had a sad note and that after Jackson's agent asked Tampa Bay not to pick him up, Bucs rejected all trade offers (including what Jackson described as an offer generous from Al Davis) and then told Jackson that they would cut their contract offer to half if he did not accept the deal under the market. Jackson announced he would play premier league baseball instead, signing a contract with the Kansas City Royals and leaving Bucs as a laughing stock of the NFL.
Doug Williams
Culverhouse treating quarterback Doug Williams caused a hatred not only on the team, but across the Bay Area community. Williams led the Buccaneers into the playoffs in three of five years with the team, and is considered the most important player. However, he only paid $ 120,000 per year, which was ranked 42nd among the NFL quarterbacks, less than what was made by third-quarterbacks of the team's strings, and lower than the Bermell Middleton salary, a defender who has two total carry in his book. two years in Tampa Bay. After the 1982 season, Williams asked for a $ 600,000 contract that would pay him among the top quarterback leagues. Culverhouse refused to budge from his initial offer of $ 400,000, which he said would make Williams one of the five highest-paid midfielders in the league. Williams's agent denied this, saying that Culverhouse's offer is substantially less than what some other quarterbacks made. With bogged negotiations, Buccaneers traded a first-round pick of the next season to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for Jack Thompson, a reserve quarterback unable to shift Ken Anderson, as an insurance policy that Williams should not have signed, or have difficulty recovering from offseason knee surgery. Williams interpreted this as a sign that the team did not want it, and instead signed a contract with the Oklahoma Outlaws of the United States Football League.
His hard line with Williams creates the perception that Culverhouse is more concerned with profit than placing winning teams on the pitch. This raises the suspicion that Culverhouse's main concern is the Buccaneer pay structure, and this is related to the frequency with which the team trades the first-round draft options. Williams comments that he will be treated differently if he is white resonated with the Bay Area African-American community, who saw the Buccaneers misery in the field in retaliation, boycotted the Buccaneer game to thousands, and commented that Culverhouse had a party that cost more than what Williams requested. The Buccaneers missed the confidence and ability of Williams to make big dramas at crucial moments, and lost their first nine games in 1983, when they were expected to compete for the playoffs. They finished 2-14, the first of what would be 14 successive seasons - the longest since the merger between the NFL and the All-American Football Conference in 1950 - and would have no other winning season in Culverhouse's life. They will lose 10 games or more in 13 years, including 12 in a row from 1983 to 1994 - NFL record. The timing coincided with the rise of the Tampa Bay Bandits, who led the USFL that came with a wide-open breach led by local hero Steve Spurrier, while the Buccaneers lost the game with conservative offenses that made fans found boring. Attendance after going down sharply, Culverhouse then further alienates fans by berating them, accusing them of apathy.
Attendance and availability of television
The long winning streak further blasphemes fans, as the NFL outage policy usually prevents poor Buccaneer cage matches being shown on local television. No Buccaneer cage match was televised on local stations for several years after November 29, 1982, including a game on January 1, 1983 which was sold out, but not in time to lift a power outage. In total, the Buccaneers had 32 consecutive blackouts before the November 9, 1986 game against the Chicago Bears Super Bowl champion who sold out in time to allow local television. At one point, the CBS television network, which has the right to broadcast NFC television, anticipates a bad season properly from all Southern teams (Buccaneers, Falcons, and Saints), and reorganizes their spectacle market in such a way that the Buccaneers game is not broadcast anywhere in the state of Florida. Culverhouse even said that the Miami Dolphins game will also faint, sometimes even when the Buccaneer game is sold out. He was increasingly inflamed fans in 1989 by proposing to move some team games to Orlando, due to his poor presence. Some local radio stations responded with billboards that say "Hugh must go!", And with a screw image next to the Culverhouse name. The Tampa Chamber of Commerce responded with a billboard thanking Culverhouse for bringing Super Bowl XXV to Tampa.
Profitability
Although enjoyment is taken into account in the purchase of Culverhouse over Buccaneer, it is the first and foremost business decision that is expected to be profitable. He claims to be known for his weirdness, because it moves like wearing outdated clothes, and has a wall of One Buc Place painted white to avoid spending money on projection screens. This initially was not a problem for the franchise, although the aircraft budget hired by Culverhouse for the team almost fell after their first game; Original coach John McKay reported in 1978 that Culverhouse never blocked any deals, even those involving large sums of money. Later, however, the team relinquished or traded many of its highly paid players and/or demanded more money, including Dave Pear, Doug Williams, Ricky Reynolds, Reggie Cobb, Mark Carrier, and Jeris White. The first-round draft options are often traded for players who are not considered to have the same value, as when the team trades for a late defensive that often wounded Wally Chambers without requiring him to first pass a physical exam. Frustrated by being beaten by a player he requested with Culverhouse to sign a contribution to McKay's resignation. He also shot the respected renowned director, Ken Herock, when Herock demanded payment in line with his value in the league.
Despite the loss and poor attendance, Buccaneers are one of the most profitable NFL teams for most of Culverhouse's holdings. In 1989, only the Chicago Bears had a higher profit than the 5-11 Buccaneers, who earned $ 6.3 million with the second lowest salary in the league, while Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers lost $ 16.2 million. The team linked their low salaries with the player's young players, stating that it was the coach who had made the decision to use young players, who earned lesser salaries than veterans. This contributed to the perception that Culverhouse was not committed to lowering qualified teams, although the rookie contract he gave to Vinny Testaverde and Paul Gruber was so high that it upset the other team owners, while he made Ray Perkins one of the top five paid head coaches NFL. He also offered Bill Parcells $ 6.5 million to coach the team, offering a draft picking Bo Jackson, a five-year contract, $ 7 million which at the time was the highest in NFL history for a rookie, paying Keith McCants NFL-record $ 2, 5 million signing bonuses, and paid Steve Young $ 6 million in salary, plus $ 1 million for the purchase of his USFL contract.
Death and after
Culverhouse was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992. After a successful surgery to remove the tumor and lung part, he started chemotherapy a few months later, when a routine check revealed a cancer recurrence. Despite his health problems, he remains a hard worker to the end, and even went hunting in Tanzania just four days after the lung part was lifted. The experimental procedure failed to stop the cancer, and he died on August 25, 1994, at the Louisiana Medical Center in New Orleans. He survived by the wife of Joy, Gay's daughter, and son of Hugh, Jr.
Buccaneer Sales
Some investors stepped forward with an offer to buy Buccaneers after Culverhouse's death, including Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, owner of New York Yankees (and Tampa resident George Steinbrenner) and Massachusetts Socrates Babacas developer. In response to subsequent publicity, the trust that managed the Culverhouse plantation then issued a statement that the team was not for sale. They reversed their position two months later, as a poor record at the start of the season led to a decrease in fan and income support. The decision to sell the franchise came on the same day when Joy filed a $ 25 million claim against Hugh's property. Hugh has paid $ 16 million for the franchise, which is now worth $ 142 million. By filing Barnett Bank's $ 20.8 million claim to real Culverhouse, the guardians came very close to receiving Angelos $ 200 million offer, which would involve team relocation to Baltimore, Maryland. Afraid of losing the team, community leaders presented a proposal that guaranteed a minimum of 55,000 ticket sales for all home games for the next two years. The team was eventually sold to Palm Beach, Florida entrepreneur Malcolm Glazer for $ 192 million, at that time the biggest price ever paid for a professional sports franchise.
Legal charges for real Culverhouse
Prior to Culverhouse's death, his wife, Joy, had signed a postnatal agreement to hand over half of his estate. This was done on the advice of lawyer Fred F. Cone, Jr., who later became one of the three guardians who handle the Culverhouse estate. Joy accuses the guardians of mismanagement of the land, and does not pay his share. He filed a malpractice lawsuit against Cone for advising him to give up his marital rights, and a second lawsuit requesting plantation bookkeeping and removal of the guardians. He said that Hugh and Cone advised him to sign the agreement for tax reasons, and mistakenly claimed that Culverhouse was on the verge of bankruptcy. He alleged that the three guardians, Cone, Jack Donlan, and Stephen F. Story, paid $ 4.35 million in bonuses to arrange the sale of Buccaneers, an amount well beyond what Culverhouse had specified, and that they paid a comparable Story with the salary of a Fortune 500 executive to manage the estate and include a 10-year gold parachute clause. He also alleged that Culverhouse's real value had been misunderstood to him when he signed the deal. Lawsuits make public details of Culverhouse estate. When it was discovered that trust had paid the lonely money to mistress Hugh, Joy's lawyers alleged that Hugh had planned to divorce Joy, and that the trust was created to usurp his legitimate assets. The court's deposition revealed three out of wedlock affairs, including Susan Brinkley, wife of broadcaster David Brinkley. The lawsuit was finally settled, with each of the three guardians being paid $ 3 million to get rid of his land handling, and Joy was allowed to appoint his own guardian. Joy then says about Hugh, "I want to pull him out of the grave and shoot him with every bullet I can get".
Philanthropy
In contrast to the way it spends in business, Culverhouse often contributes to society. Some of his famous donations include:
- A $ 4.6 million Prize for the University of South Florida, which founded the Culverhouse Chair in Education at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and was the largest contribution in school history;
- $ 600,000 to the University of Florida, for the establishment of Chief Hugh F. Culverhouse in Federal Taxation;
- $ 500,000 to Stetson Law University, for a guest professor's chair.
- $ 10 million to Alabama University, the biggest prize in school history
- 3 acres (12,000 m 2 ) from Tarpon Springs, Florida, vacant land for Habitat for Humanity
- The first $ 1 million promised for the construction of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
Culverhouse is also a member of the supervisory board who gives the Florida Prize annual award for outstanding work in the visual arts or performances.
References
External links
- Lawyers, lovers, money, and deceit
- Culverhouse's fatal error: "He's cheap"
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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