Ray Farmer Apologizes to Browns Fans for Texting Scandal

The Cleveland Browns organization has been embroiled in controversy for many reasons this offseason, and general manager Ray Farmer apologized Thursday for his role.

Farmer recently admitted to sending text messages to the sidelines during games this past season, and he opened his press conference Thursday by showing remorse for his actions, according to Zac Jackson of FoxSportsOhio.com:

Per Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1, the 40-year-old executive placed the entire burden on himself:

Farmer told reporters that he'd complied with investigators, according to Daryl Ruiter of Cleveland.com:

Farmer entered the press conference having already received a vote of confidence from Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, according to ESPN.com's Pete McManamon.

"

Ray's smart. He works hard. I think he understands football. He's been in football all his life. He relates extremely well to players. He knows it not only from a personnel standpoint but from the way a game should be run and managed standpoint. I think he's an exceptional human being. I hate this. As bad as I hate it for the organization, I hate it more for Ray Farmer. I think it eats him up every day.

"

When asked to explain the reasoning behind sending the texts despite the illegality of doing so, Farmer chalked it up to a heat-of-the-moment impulse, per Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports:

The general manager did say that he believed the Browns were a healthy organization, per Marc Sessler of NFL.com:

Farmer was likely already on the hot seat to some degree entering the 2015 season due to the fact that the Browns haven't made the playoffs since 2002 and have a messy quarterback situation.

One can only imagine that the texting scandal has turned the heat up even more regardless of Farmer's decision to apologize and take responsibility for his actions.

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