Andrew Berry's Thoughtful Light Touch Exemplified In Be The Solution Initiative

When George Floyd was murdered, it sparked a nation, prompting the question of how the Cleveland Browns and general manager Andrew Berry would respond. Berry's thoughtful response is consistent with who he's always been.

As the country fell into turmoil over police brutality and the fight for civil rights, it was never a question of whether Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry would find a way to speak out, but simply the method he would choose. An email Berry wrote to team employees has led to the Be The Solution campaign and allowed Berry to speak out through the Browns organization with the goal of making a meaningful difference in society.

Anyone who has followed me for a while knows how much I admire and respect Berry. When the Browns hired Sashi Brown as Executive Vice President and they decided they would make a big investment in analytics, I tried to learn as much as I could to be able to better understand what the Browns were trying to do and essentially be able to identify and project players the team would want.

Given that Brown was a lawyer by trade, it was clear that his lieutenants would be critical in advising him on the direction to go with football decisions, especially as it related to player acquisition. The Browns hired Berry as Vice President of Player Personnel from the Indianapolis Colts. Just 28 years old at the time, it was easy to be impressed. Bill Polian, the Hall of Fame general manager, had great things to say about him and Berry's background resume was outstanding.

I had the chance to meet Berry one year at the Reese's Senior Bowl. In an encounter where I was trying to say something along the lines of how I admired the process they were undertaking and what they were trying to do, hoping they'd be allowed to see it through, it came out more like something that belonged on a Saturday Night Live skit with Chris Farley interviewing the likes of Paul McCartney.

"You remember when you guys drafted Myles Garrett and all those fans wanted you to take a quarterback because he played high school football at Mentor? That was awesome."

So as I watched the Browns operate under Brown and Berry, I evaluated players through the use of data and history in addition to their tape. They added a number of players that checked all of the boxes in terms of athleticism, production and age that were very defensible picks at the time. Some worked out great (Joe Schobert as an example) and some didn't, most notably Corey Coleman. They also selected players that didn't make any sense from a data standpoint and every last one of them failed, which always had me thinking they should be doing this for every pick.

When John Dorsey was hired to run the team, Berry was retained and was part of the chorus who wanted to select Baker Mayfield.

I was disappointed when Berry left to take a job with the Philadelphia Eagles because he represented modernization in football decision making for the Browns. His departure felt like the Browns were retreating into antiquated methods of scouting. While it wasn't quite that dramatic, it wasn't good either. 

When the Browns moved on from Dorsey, it seemed like a pipe dream that Berry would come back to become the general manager. As much as I hoped it would happen, once he got out and seen what else there was available to him, I figured he was never going to want to return to Cleveland and the Browns organization wasn't going to be able to show the humility to admit they made a mistake.

I assumed that the Browns let another talented football mind get away only to surface elsewhere and help that team achieve the greatness that has eluded this organization for decades.

When it comes to head coaches and front office executives, I only have a tiny fraction of the answers necessary to know if they would be right for the job. Nowhere near enough to make an informed decision, but with all I knew about Berry, I was hoping the Browns would come to the conclusion that he was the guy for the job. I was thrilled when it was announced that was the direction they chose. Young. Forward thinking. Evidence based. Inclusive. Everything the Browns hadn't been since before the franchise moved to Baltimore.

Under his leadership, the Browns established a clear plan that became clear in free agency, which in itself is progress, as sad as that is. Beyond that, the moves the team has made in free agency as well as the NFL Draft look smart, are extremely defensible even as some of them likely won't work out.

And while the argument can be made that the youngest general manager in the league, a 33-year old Black man, one of only two in the league, Berry might avoid the spotlight, focusing entirely on improving the Browns to ensure he succeeds at his job, opening the door for more Black executives to be hired, I never expected Berry would take that route. 

Berry doesn't want to dwell on the rare situation he finds himself and wants to spend his energy on what he can do to help build the team. Still, it's never lost on him the rarefied air he currently inhabits and the difference he can make with this platform.

“We are a family. We’re in this for one reason,” Berry said. “We realize what’s right, and there are some things that are more important than football. I think too many times organizations can be tone deaf to those dynamics. This is one of those moments where our focus can’t be only or solely what goes on between those white lines. There are just bigger societal issues at play.

NFL teams, in general, have such an influence on their communities that if we can’t be at the front of the pack on some of these issues that impact all of us, then shame on us.”

In many ways, Berry being so young made him the perfect person to be in this position. He is part of a generation that simply refuses to abide and accept racism in any form. The days of rationalizing that some people are just that way are gone, replaced by people who are angry and confused at the idea that in the year 2020, there are still issues based on the color of someone's skin. 

In Berry's case, he's someone who has achieved his entire life, both athletically and academically. He graduated with multiple degrees from Harvard and has countless opportunities in any number of fields outside of football.

Since the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a large number of NFL players have taken up the fight against racism, trying to raise awareness and help Detroit Lions safety Tracy Walker's family get justice for his cousin. When George Floyd's murder happened, it sparked a nation to demand action to stop police brutality and promote civil rights, which has forced the NFL itself to consider its own ugly track record on the issue.

As soon as the protests began, it became a question of how Berry and the Browns would respond. Inaction was not an option, especially as players on the team started using their own platforms, both in speaking as well as action. When head coach Kevin Stefanski came out and endorsed the locker room's efforts to cause change, standing with them, emphasizing action, it appeared to be an indication that Berry would find a way to act rather than simply speaking on the issue since the two are so closely aligned in their thinking.

What started with an email to team employees weeks ago has now become a team initiative. Berry announced his intention to donate $8,460 in honor of George Floyd and other victims to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund if at least 50 team employees did one of the following three things:

1. Spend at least 8 minutes and 46 seconds (in honor of Floyd) on one of a number of educational or dialogue items provided in the email and submit a short written or video reflection on what they learned or will do moving forward
2. Sign up for any social activism initiative
3. Donate anything to a social activism cause

It didn't even take a day to get more than 50 and in response to what Berry was doing, the Haslams responded by pledging to match every dollar the employees of the team were donating to the charities of their choosing. In all, 14 different charities received money from a total of $185,522.74.

If it was that easy to get people within the organization to get involved, be it financially or simply educating themselves and increasing their awareness, why couldn't it scale beyond that publicly? That is what the Browns intend to find out now as they have rolled out this initiative, having Berry announce it on an episode of Building the Browns as well as on their Meet the Rookies night.

Berry finally let the public know everything he had been thinking and feeling from the perspective of a Black man in America as well as a father of young children who will inherit this world. Because of the momentum created within the organization as a result of his email, his challenge, Berry, who is often buttoned up, stoic, explained the range of emotions he had been going through in the past several weeks. Not surprisingly, it ran the gamut, but where he ended was hope. Hope based in the actions he's seen from people in an effort to make changes for the better.

It came as no surprise that Berry could be a powerful messenger, but he found a way to avoid becoming the message. Berry presents the Be The Solution initiative, but he doesn't need to constantly speak or answer questions about what he wants to do or what he means. The message is autonomous. It has the capacity to speak for itself and when Berry chooses, he can make himself part of it, but he's not inextricably attached.

It has enabled him to be active, to take a stand, and attach his name try to inspire change while still being able to focus first and foremost on his his career. Yes, Berry wants to make society better as should we all, but he took this job because he wants to build a team to win the Super Bowl.

Berry can be an agent trying to inspire change, but his influence is due in no small part to the platform he has. This initiative allows him to avoid getting pulled into a family tradition of preaching, expected to consistently inspire a community. The separation he has created for himself allows him to focus on being the general manager of the Cleveland Browns.

In many ways, that's something that has always stood out about Berry. He's always been effective, but he's done it as team player regardless of the organization around him. It's never been about ego for him, which is why so few people realized who he was when he was with the Browns and didn't think twice when he took the job with the Eagles. Berry was with the Browns for three seasons in a critical role for Sashi Brown, occupied an important post with John Dorsey and yet he was largely anonymous.

Whether in his role as football executive, having an awkward encounter with me in Mobile, or now delivering this powerful message, Andrew Berry has always possessed  an influential personality with a light touch.

With the Be The Solution initiative, hopefully that light touch is all that's required to make a major impact.