Hue Jackson cleansed himself and the franchise of two years of losing, jumping into Lake Erie as promised.
Jackson vowed on January 2, 2017, to jump into the lake if the Browns finished 2017 with the same 1-15 record they had in 2016. Instead, the Browns were worse, going 0-16.
“No more freaking losing!” Jackson declared Friday.
Jackson committed to donate $100 to the Hue Jackson Foundation for every person who jumped in with him. His foundation combats human trafficking in Northeast Ohio.
Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam offered to match Jackson’s contribution, raising $30,000 after some 150 members of the organization jumped in with Jackson, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.
“Those people have been with me every day,” Jackson said, via Ulrich. “When you lose a game and you lose as many games as we have and you keep parking your car and walking into the building and have to see those faces each and every day, I carry them with me. I carry them and their families and this city with me contrary to what anybody believes. It’s on me. I wear it every day. So I just thank them for being a part of this because they didn’t have to do this. They didn’t have to come here and support this. I made the statement, and they said, ‘No, I want to do this,’ and I’m thankful.”
Jackson’s foundation is selling “Lake Jump” T-shirts, with all proceeds from the sales of the $29 shirts going to the foundation.
