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View Full Version : Former Browns' Owner Art Modell Dead at 87



CenTexDave
September 7th, 2012, 12:24 PM
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/modell-did-part-lift-nfl-082142499--nfl.html

Doubtful many on here really cared much when the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens, but the owner was hated in Cleveland. Death threats were issued. The owner was blamed for it all, but if you studied the issue closely back then you would learn the truth - the man had no choice. The team paid a hefty rent to the city to play at ancient Cleveland Stadium, which was built in the 1920's for the Indians. It was a huge baseball stadium - no luxury boxes, lousy locker rooms, etc. The owner got no parking fees or concession stand royalties. For years he tried to negotiate, even plead, with the city for a better deal and was ignored. Baltimore offered him a new football stadium and other concessions. He agreed and moved the team. A few years later the NFL awarded a franchise in Cleveland to the highest bidder. They would be known as the Cleveland Browns. Art Modell made sure the team's history and colors would remain in Cleveland. Of course this newer version has been nothing but a disaster.
I met the man in 1961 - my father's CPA firm did work for him and the Browns, and at the time we lived in the same condo on the lake in Lakewood - a suburb of Cleveland. Modell offered my father a small slice of the pie, but although we were well off we weren't that well off. lol
I imagine many old time Browns' fans are celebrating in Cleveland today.

Rick
September 7th, 2012, 3:01 PM
He had to agree to keep the Browns colors, name, and records in Cleveland before he was allowed to move to Baltimore. A delayed battle over with the city and the NFL was not in his best interest.

The move was a business decision and had he lost the team through bankruptcy, they would still be where they are now. He was an old school "football businessman."

I am sure there have been some pretty nasty and classless comments on social media in Ohio, but being classless is a disservice to the team that is set to take the field on Sunday. There is some discussion on whether to honor him before Sunday's game. I think that would be the right thing to do. A lot of good players from Cleveland and his era are in the Hall of Fame and he should at least be given a moment of silence.

As for the stadium, he never minded an 80,000 seat stadium when they were winning and the place was full. But damn, it was cold in that place when the wind came into the opening that faced the lake. That's why they called it "The Mistake by the Lake."

CenTexDave
September 7th, 2012, 3:25 PM
The Mistake by the Lake was a good baseball stadium, but for football it stunk. Although the Dawg Pound was unique.
I think over the past decade Clevelanders have learned that the bad guy wasn't necessarily Modell, but that idiot mayor they had - Mike (forget his last name). But then most mayors in Cleveland have been idiots. Look at Kucinich. :))
He often said he made three bad decisions:
1. Firing Paul Brown.
2. Trading Paul Warfield to the Dolphins so they could get a high draft pick and chose Mike Phipps, a QB from Purdue, who never amounted to much. To get another "go to" receiver, he traded a young running back named Ron Johnson to the Giants to get Homer Jones. All Jones ever did was run a kick-off back for a TD. Never amounted to anything. Johnson, on the other hand, the next year led the NFL in rushing.
3. The feud with Marty Schottenheimer which lead to the coach departing.
RIP, Art.