Michael Lombardi returns to Browns front office

Lombardi can't change the past, so he's moving forward.

"I'm just asking for a fair and honest chance," he said.

Lombardi, who most recently worked as an analyst for NFL Network, was introduced as Cleveland's new vice president of player personnel on Friday, a hiring met with mostly disapproval by many Browns fans who associate him with those dark days in the mid-1990s before former owner Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore.

Lombardi is aware of the negativity surrounding his return. The only thing he can do to change people's minds is help build the Browns into a consistent winner.

"Look," he said. "There is a great passion for football in this town. To me, whether it was a positive reaction or a negative reaction, the reaction is important because that's how important football is. It's my job to prove the reaction to be positive. It's not anybody else's. I take the responsibility to work hard at my craft and do it."

The 53-year-old Lombardi laughed when he was asked if the less-than-enthusiastic reception bothered him.

"I have thick skin," he said. "I worked for Al Davis. I've been ripped before."

He last worked in the NFL in 2007, the final of his eight years working under Davis, Oakland's maverick owner whose phone conversations with Lombardi never began with a 'hello' or ended with 'goodbye.' Lombardi ran the Raiders' personnel department and helped the team win three AFC titles and make one Super Bowl.

Before joining Oakland, he spent two seasons in Philadelphia working with new Browns CEO Joe Banner, who knew his decision to bring Lombardi to Cleveland would be met with criticism. Banner, though, believes Lombardi will be a perfect complement to owner Jimmy Haslam and new Browns coach Rob Chudzinski.

"Listen, I understand that I'm going out on the limb myself by hiring Mike," Banner said. "So I didn't do this casually. I've spent a lot of time talking to him about everything that matters before I put him in front of Jimmy or Chud. Time will tell if it's right or wrong, but I made (the choice) confidently and with my eyes open about the perceptions, about the realities, about my own time I spent with him.

"I feel comfortable with it."

Haslam said he consulted with "people at the very top of the NFL business" before he and Banner began their search for a new general manager or personnel director. Haslam said Lombardi, who has 22 years of pro front office experience, received high praise.

"Everyone of them said this," Haslam said. "'If you can get Mike Lombardi to be your general manager, you should hire him immediately.'"