Day of change: Emotional Wayne Weaver announces Jaguars sold, coach Del Rio fired

Editor's note: This story was first published in the Times-Union on Nov. 30, 2011.

Not since 18 years ago today has a day jolted the landscape of the NFL in Jacksonville as dramatically as Tuesday did.

Wayne Weaver will no longer own the Jacksonville Jaguars once a deal is finalized to sell the team to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan.

Weaver announced the news with tears in his eyes and his voice wavering. He thanked his partners as he prepared to move on from a team he essentially created in a city that grew with it.

"It's a little bittersweet, honestly, that it came as soon as it did, but I said the main motivation for an exit strategy was to find someone that has the same passion about the NFL, had the same passion about football in Jacksonville as we do, and I found that person."

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Khan, who Weaver expects to keep the team in Jacksonville, will take over 100 percent of the ownership from Weaver and his eight partners, which include his wife Delores Barr Weaver. Forbes.com reported the deal to be worth $760 million.

"Wayne's legacy will be lasting, and I will always be grateful for Wayne's trust and confidence in my commitment to the Jaguars, the NFL and the people of the Jacksonville community," Khan said in a statement. "Owning a team in the National Football League has long been my personal and professional goal. Becoming the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars would be a dream come true for me and my family but, above all, would be a privilege."

Through a representative, Khan said he would not comment beyond a statement until after the league's owners vote to approve the deal on Dec. 14.

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Weaver made the announcement on the same day he fired former head coach Jack Del Rio in his ninth season and announced a three-year extension for Jaguars general manager Gene Smith.

With the sale in the works, Weaver considered firing Del Rio last week after a loss to the Cleveland Browns, but he thought it would be too awkward to do so and then announce the sale of the team one week later rather. The Jaguars are 3-8 and play the San Diego Chargers on Monday night.

The Weaver family is also the majority owner of Shoe Carnival, and Weaver is the chairman and CEO of Liz Claiborne Shoes. He became the financial power behind Jacksonville's successful, but surprising, bid to win an NFL franchise in 1993. The city won over St. Louis, Baltimore and Memphis.

"When I got off the plane the first time in Jacksonville, the first thing I wanted to do was meet the ownership because to pull this thing off was amazing," Smith said.

Long hours weren't a problem for Weaver, who took a hands-on approach to the franchise.

Weaver was solely responsible for hiring and firing the team's two head coaches - Tom Coughlin and Del Rio.

For several years, Weaver, who turns 77 in January, indicated he would eventually need an exit strategy. High on his wish list was someone who would keep the franchise in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have been the subject of speculation as a potential team to move to Los Angeles, though that speculation was mostly baseless.

"I've had calls from California that I just refused to take because it's wasting their time and my time, and they knew it," Weaver said. "People that I ran into at meetings and other parts that would ask about California, I would just say we have no interest. We're a Jacksonville franchise and we plan to stay a Jacksonville franchise."

Khan is the CEO and owner of Flex-N-Gate Group, an automotive parts manufacturing company. Weaver met Khan, who goes by Shad, five years ago and they began to have conversations about Khan possibly acquiring minority interests in the team. Weaver declined, saying he was happy with his partners.

Last year, Khan entered into a purchase agreement to buy 60 percent of the St. Louis Rams from the children of late Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. Stan Kroenke, who owned 40 percent of the team, blocked Khan's bid to buy the team by matching the 60 percent offer.

"This adventure didn't turn out the way I had hoped, but it was otherwise a worthwhile experience in every respect," Khan said in a statement at that time.

There is no written provision in the agreement between Weaver and Khan that totally prevents Khan from moving the franchise to another city. But Weaver said there was no doubt in his mind the team would stay in Jacksonville.

Whatever the future holds, for the first time in nearly two decades, Weaver will have to watch from afar. He said he'll offer Khan advice if he asks for it, but certainly won't be looking over Khan's shoulder.

"I will be the biggest cheerleader in Jacksonville," Weaver said.

Weaver is a member of the NFL's Business Ventures, Finance, Investment and Compensation Committees, but he will quit the NFL completely once the sale goes through.

He and his wife will continue to live in Jacksonville as merely spectators, but really much more than that.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Wayne Weaver sells Jacksonville Jaguars to Shad Khan for $760 million