Cleveland Browns chief of staff Callie Brownson will be suspended after being charged with drunk driving last month but she will not lose her job, per head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Brownson was pulled over with her blood alcohol content recorded as .215, over twice Ohio’s legal limit of .08, per the Akron Beacon-Journal. Since the news came out, video of the stop has been released, showing Brownsonʻs conversation with police and her failed sobriety test.
“Iʻm a Cleveland Browns coach,” Brownson can be heard saying during the video. “This is detrimental to my career. Iʻm right at my house. Iʻd love to just go home, sir.”
Brownson reportedly pled “no contest” to the OVI — operating a vehicle impaired — charge. Both charges for speeding and for having a blood alcohol content over .17 were dismissed, per Daryl Ruiter.
Brownson Named to Chief of Staff Position Last Season
Brownson was named the Browns Chief of Staff last year. She was a full-time coaching intern with the Bills prior to landing her job with the Browns. Brownson led two position groups last season when COVID-19 issues hit the coaching staff, becoming the first woman to coach an NFL position group during a regular-season game.
Stefanski, who held a similar position with the Vikings at one point, was excited to have Brownson on board.
“It’s very involved in every aspect of a football operation,” Stefanski said after Brownsonʻs position was announced. “Callie is uniquely situated where she can go interact with football ops or PR or the locker room or the equipment room. She’s really the liaison to the rest of the building for me. I’m going to lean on her heavily and already have.
“I think she’s a go-getter. She’s self-motivated. She’s going to put all of her energy into this gig. What’s exciting for me is ultimately I want to develop young coaches. She’s someone that has worked on the offensive side of the ball, worked on special teams, has a great knowledge of the game and I want to let her expand that knowledge and develop her as a head coach.”
Browns ʻExtremely Disappointedʻ in Brownson
Stefanski spoke about the incident with Brownson while meeting with reporters on Wednesday, saying the team will help her through it.
“Extremely disappointed,” Stefanski said Wednesday via Zoom. “We take these things very seriously. We’re working with the league on appropriate discipline. Callie’s obviously very remorseful, and she’s going to learn from this and we’ll support her along the way.”
While Stefanski noted the suspension, the team is working with the league on the severity.
“When it comes to the rest of the discipline, we’re working with the league on that,” Stefanski said. “I’d just reiterate what I said: She’s extremely remorseful. I’ve spoken to her many times, and she’ll learn from this and hopefully we’ll all be in a better place after this. I’m disappointed, she’s disappointed and, again, we’ll work through all the particulars.”
There will be no additional punishment coming from the league, per Nate Ulrich.
“The club would assess discipline in consultation with the league,” an NFL spokesman told Ulrich. “There would be no additional discipline from the league.”
The Browns are currently in the midst of OTAs in Berea.
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Video Released From Browns Coachʻs Drunk Driving Stop