Michael Brown (born August 10, 1935) is an American football executive who is the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League (NFL). The son of Bengals co-founder Paul Brown, he joined the Bengals upon their founding in 1968 and assumed ownership after his father's death in 1991. His ownership has been criticized for a lack of on-field success, his refusal to cede football operations to a general manager, and the team's relationship with Hamilton County before and after a voter-approved tax increase to fund Paul Brown Stadium. Early life Brown is the only living son of Paul Brown. His brother, Pete, was the Senior Vice-president of Bengals' player personnel until his death in 2017. His older brother, Robin, died of cancer in 1978. Brown graduated from Dartmouth College in 1957, where he played quarterback for their football team, and from Harvard Law School in 1960. In an unusual meeting between future sports owners, eventual New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner hired him to a summer job as a deck hand for Kinsman Marine Transit Company. Brown eventually followed his father into football management. Paul Brown founded the Bengals, then an American Football League team, in 1968. (This was several years after Paul Brown was dismissed as Cleveland Browns head coach in a well-publicized falling out with Art Modell.) He began his executive duties with the Bengals as assistant general manager. Along with personnel decisions, he was a spokesman for the team on issues of league rules and team policy. Taking over the team Brown assumed ownership responsibilities upon his father's death in August 1991 and has remained in the ownership position since. His first significant move as owner was to fire popular coach Sam Wyche after the 1991 season (although he originally claimed that Wyche resigned). Days later, Brown hired Dave Shula to be head coach, making Shula (at the time) the second youngest NFL head coach in history and making Dave and Don Shula the first father-son to lead different NFL teams in the same year. Going into 1993, Brown sought to negotiate a new lease with Cincinnati to keep the Bengals in the city. Construction of a new stadium deal Initially, Brown rejected advances from other cities to discuss moving the team. By 1995, he argued that Riverfront Stadium's small seating capacity and lack of luxury boxes was hindering the Bengals' success. In 1995, he