Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita had his suspension for his alleged role in the New Orleans Saints’ bounty program reduced to one game on Tuesday by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Goodell reaffirmed the suspensions for the four players originally linked to the bounty program, but altered the condition of the punishment for each player.

Fujita has 72 hours to decide if he will accept the reduced punishment or if he will continue to appeal; he has maintained his innocence from the start. He will reportedly be allowed to practice with the team this week as they prepare for Sunday’s game with Cincinnati.

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Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita fired back at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday, a day after having suspension for his alleged role in the New Orleans Saints’ bounty program reduced to one game.

“I’m pleased the Commissioner has finally acknowledged that I never participated in any so-called ‘bounty’ program, as I’ve said for the past seven months,” Fujita wrote in a statement. “However, his condescending tone was neither accurate nor productive. Additionally, I am now purportedly being suspended for failing to confront my former defensive coordinator for his inappropriate use of language. This seems like an extremely desperate attempt to punish me. I also think it sets a bad precedent when players can be disciplined for not challenging the behavior of their superiors. This is an absolute abuse of the power that's been afforded to the Commissioner.

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The Akron Aeros held a contest last year to see if the fans wanted them to change their name.

Now, with a new owner, the fans may no longer have a choice in the matter of whether or not the Akron Aeros remain the same. 

Yes the Aeros are under new ownership as of...well, for some time, but it was just approved a few days ago and new owner Ken Babby is getting to work. As reported in the Akron Beacon Journal over the weekend Babby will be making major renovations to the ballpark we know as Canal Park.

The good news is that with the sale, Babby is keeping the team in Akron for the next 25 years guaranteed, in addition to getting a new scoreboard and a group seating area. New ownership assumes most of the costs to renovations and maintenance of the grounds throughout the year. Not only is Akron keeping their team, they now have an owner that is willing to spend to create a special experience.

The winning has been there, with Akron taking home yet another Eastern League title last month, their fourth in team history. They're a competitive team thanks to the Indians farm system and management put in place, but a restriction on the budget has stalled their success in attendance and providing an experience to the fan. That really is what owning a Minor League Baseball franchise is all about, providing an experience. 

Now with winning baseball and an ownership group ready to make improvement and perhaps re-brand the franchise, Akron can be one of the premiere franchises in the Eastern League. 

The Agganis family brought the Akron franchise to the city in 1997 and since have seen success on the field, but have not made major renovations to a minor league stadium that could probably use a bit of a face-lift. With a stellar park in Columbus, the Indians Triple-A affiliate, the Aeros have room to improve. Because the city had to share costs with the franchise, minimal changes have taken place. Now with Babby assuming most of the costs, changes will be coming.

And a name change could come rather soon with the city and fan base taking part in the naming. Canal Park could also see a change in name. Either way, the Akron franchise as we know it will have some off-the-field changes to go along with their on-the-field success.

Ken Rosenthal, senior baseball writer for FoxSports.com and contributor to MLB on Fox, said today on Twitter that his sources are telling him that Terry Francona will be the next manager of the Cleveland Indians and that the announcement will likely come on Monday. Both Francona and interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr. interviewed for the position this past week after the conclusion of the season and the Indians were satisfied with just speaking to two candidates.

Francona has spent 12 years as a manager, the first four with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997-2000 and the last eight with the Boston Red Sox from 2004-2011. Francona won two World Series with the Red Sox and has an overall record of 1029-915 as a manager. In his playing days, Francona played 62 games with the Indians during the 1988 season, batting .311. His father, Tito, played 835 games with the Indians from 1959-1964.

The deciding factor for the Indians was likely experience, something Sandy Alomar Jr. does not have. Alomar managed the Indians to a 3-3 record in the final six games, taking over for Manny Acta. Alomar, who served as the bench coach in 2012 for Acta, was the first candidate interviewed by the front office, but the Indians did seem to be pretty intent on going with Francona from the start when his name popped up.

Francona inherits a team that lost 94 games and has lost 90 or more in three of the last four seasons. Francona was let go by the Boston Red Sox following the 2011 season amidst a lot of rumors that some of the team's pitchers were sitting in the clubhouse drinking beer during games. The team also collapsed in the final weeks of the season to miss the playoffs.

Though nothing has been confirmed by the Indians to this point, Rosenthal is a very well-connected reporter and this should be a reputable source. As a result, it's safe to expect a confirmation from someone closer to the Indians and to expect an announcement on Monday.

James Haslam, incoming owner of the Cleveland Browns, was on FOX Business on Thursday and had one very important thing that Browns fans need to hear:

Nothing is changing until the season is over. No one is getting fired the second Haslam takes over. No one is cleaning out their offices "right this very minute" as some have claimed on an almost daily basis since it was announced that Haslam was purchasing the team from Randy Lerner.

“I don’t think anybody thinks 0-4 (is acceptable) and certainly Mike Holmgren and Pat Shurmur don’t think it is, and we don’t think it is,” Haslam said in the video. “But we’ve got a young team. We’re building. I think we’re heading in the right direction.

"We don’t officially own the team yet, and we’ve said all along that we’re not going to make any comments on personnel until after we own the team. That’s in about two weeks. And candidly we’ll be halfway through the football season then, so any personnel decisions we’d make would be made toward the end of the year.”

As we've been saying since Haslam rolled into town, he is the type of person who studies the situation carefully and weighs his options before making a decision. He's not going to fire someone just to show who's the boss or make a change for change's sake.

The hoople heads are not going to like today's news, but that's the way real NFL teams operate. Time to start getting used to it.

Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita was in New York on Friday to meet with NFL officials about his alleged role in the New Orleans Saints bounty program.

According to NFL.com, Fujita was the last of the four suspended players to meet with Commissioner Roger Goodell, former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White and other league officials. The group previously met with Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith and Anthony Hargrove as part of the process before issuing a ruling on their bounty-related suspensions.

Fujita reportedly told Goodell that the Saints never ran a bounty program, but admitted there was a pay-for-performance system in place while he was a member of the team.

The meetings with the four players were part of the pre-discipline phase that was part of the collective bargaining agreement process. An appeals panel put the suspensions (a full season for Vilma, eight games for Hargrove, four games for Smith and three games for Fujita) on hold and asked Goodell to differentiate between a pay-to-injure program and a pay-for-performance program.

Now that all the meetings have taken place, Goodell can issue his ruling at any time, but reportedly will take his time and study the case further before making a decision.

Fujita traveled to New York for the meeting following the Browns game on Thursday night against Baltimore. In that game, a 23-16 loss by the Browns, Fujita had four tackles and one of the Browns four sacks.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

The Cleveland Indians confirmed on Friday that former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona and current interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr. are the only candidates they are currently considering for the managerial position.

“We’ll acknowledge both of those guys,” general manager Chris Antonetti said on the team’s website. “Beyond that, we won’t acknowledge other names.”

Makes sense, really, what with the Indians being the worst team in the American League. Don’t want to give the opposition any edge as managers fight among themselves to land an interview time with the club.

Francona admitted on Friday that he will come to town for an interview.

“I actually speak to Chris from time to time,” Francona told MLB.com. “We’ve been friends a long time. But I have spoken to him about the job, and at some point I’m going to come in and interview for the job.”

Francona won two World Series during his eight years as manager of the Red Sox and spent this past season as an analyst with ESPN after being fired by Boston.

“I wouldn’t come in an interview if I wasn’t interested,” Francona said. “They have some things to get in order. I know Sandy Alomar is also a candidate and I’m sure they’ll be doing their homework.”

Francona has ties to the Indians; he played 62 games for the team in 1988, batting .311, and worked as a special assistant to Mark Shapiro in 2001 when Shapiro was the Tribe’s general manager.

All that probably doesn’t mean anything. It will be a huge shock if the Indians don’t make Alomar the permanent manager. He will come cheap, which obviously will be a selling point for the Dolans, plus as a “fan favorite” from the teams of the late 1990s, he will appease the mob.

After all, after cameos from Jim Thome and Kenny Lofton, and the upcoming retirement of Omar Vizquel, the Tribe doesn’t have anyone left from those teams to bring back to sell tickets and help distract fans from the on-field performance of the current team.

That’s one edge that Francona won’t be able to overcome. We were there in the 1980s and, trust us, no one is nostalgic about those days.

Effective immediately, the Cleveland Indians have relieved Manny Acta of his managerial duties. Sandy Alomar Jr., the team's bench coach under Acta, will assume managerial duties for the final six games of the season. According to a Tweet from the Cleveland Indians' Official Twitter, the search for a new manager will begin immediately and that Alomar Jr. is a candidate for the job.

Acta leaves the Indians with a 214-266 record and is now just 372-518 for his career as a manager during stints with the Washington Nationals and Cleveland Indians. Acta never had much to work with in Cleveland, though the writing has been on the wall since the team's epic collapse began at the end of July. Acta finished fourth in the 2011 American League Manager of the Year voting after leading the Indians to an 80-82 season despite a plethora of injuries.

What hurt Acta the most this season was how the team collapsed, just like they did in 2011. The Indians were 30-15 after 45 games in 2011 and wound up going just 50-67 the rest of the way. In 2012, the Indians were 37-33 through 70 games and have gone just 28-58 since.

The dismissal of Acta adds a new dimension to what was already going to be an interesting offseason with Shin-Soo Choo and Chris Perez likely to be traded and some other decisions that need to be made regarding the starting rotation and the revolving door of players at key corner positions.

Stay tuned to TheClevelandFan.com for more information on both the firing of Acta and the team's search for a new manager.

ESPN is reporting that Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita may meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday to discuss his role in the New Orleans Saints bounty program.

Fujita, who was originally suspended for three games for his alleged role, is the only player who has not met with Goodell since an appeals panel overturned the suspensions. Saints defensive end Will Smith and linebacker Jonathan Vilma, along with defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove, currently a free agent, met with Goodell earlier in the week at NFL offices in New York.

Fujita, who is still recovering from a knee injury, had planned to meet with Goodell by video conference, but the league decided it wants the players to sit down with Goodell in person.

"Scott is committed to a just and fair resolution in this matter, but he is also committed to his teammates and his club," the NFL Players Association said in a statement. "He is still undergoing treatment for a knee injury and is preparing for this week's game. We scheduled a video conference with the league but they informed us that they were only interested in an in-person meeting."

Even though the panel put the suspensions on hold, it also ruled that Goodell still has the power to suspend the players under the "conduct detrimental" portion of the league'scollective bargaining agreement.

The Browns play the Ravens on Thursday night, which frees up Fujita for a Friday meeting.

Cleveland Browns running back Trent Richardson was voted the NFL Rookie of the Week, the league announced on Friday. (The award has a corporate sponsor name, but we're not seeing any of that money, so ...)

Richardson earned the award after totaling 145 yards and two touchdowns against the Bengals in Cincinnati. Richardson ran for 109 yards, scoring on a 32-yard rush, and had 36 receiving yards, including a 23-yard touchdown reception.

Richardson, the third overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, is the first Browns player to win the weekly award since the immortal Charlie Frye, who picked up the honors after Week 17 of the 2005 season when he passed for 199 yards in a 20-16 win against Baltimore. (Frye also threw two interceptions and took four sacks that day; must have been a light week for rookies).

Richardson was selected from among five finalists through fan votes on NFL.com/rookies. The other finalists were punter Johnny Hekker of the Rams, quarterback Andrew Luck of the Colts, quarterback Ryan Tannehill of the Dolphins and quarterback Russell Wilson of the Seahawks.

After the regular season, five players will be nominated for NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com/rookies throughout the month of January. The NFL Rookie of the Year will be announced at the second annual NFL Honors awards show in New Orleans on Feb. 2.

(Photo by ClevelandBrowns.com)