Written by Jerry Roche

---

Art Modell, who meant so much to the City of Cleveland and Browns fans from 1961 to 1996, and so little from 1996 to the present, is dead at the age of 87. Lest we forget (or, for the benefit of younger fans), let us remember his king-sized public persona over most of those five decades:

1) According to “The League” by David Harris (Bantam Books, 1986): “Modell was, one sportswriter noted, ‘a hustler kind of guy,’ easy to have a drink with, jovial, but always playing the angles. Modell liked being in the inside of things and rubbing shoulders with other insiders.”

2) When he bought the Browns for $3,925,000 in 1961, his personal assets were worth no more than $250,000, leaving him $3,675,000 short — all of which he finagled. Union Commerce Bank loaned him $2,500,000 against the franchise itself; he sold a $250,000 partnership to Robert Gries Sr.; and he sold off the rest of the debt to eight minority partners. A financial feat of incomparable chutzpah pulled off by a 36-year-old ad salesman.

3) After Modell took control of the team, everyone knew that Paul Brown was not long to remain head coach. Jim Brown writes in his autobiography (“Out of Bounds,” Zebra Brooks, 1989): “Art established his presence quickly and dramatically. Paul Brown had a stadium-front office. Art moved him out of there and put him in back. NO ONE moves Paul Brown to a back office. When Art fired him, I was not shocked. By then I knew Art and his audacity. Anyone could see that Paul Brown and Art Modell would not co-exist for long. You had a Hertz and Hertz, and no Avis."

4) Modell was one of the key negotiators of the NFL-AFL merger and realignment in 1969-70. According to ESPN, Modell contended that “I was pushing for a 13-and-13 alignment; others were pushing for 16-and-10. Owners objected ... and objected and objected. The meeting was going on forever. We had people sleeping on carpeted floors in Pete Rozelle’s office. Finally, Art Rooney of the Steelers and Wellington Mara [of the New York Giants] came up to my room in the hospital and I told them what I was going to do. I said I’d move the Browns to the AFC if the Steelers and Baltimore Colts came with me. It was the only thing that got it together.”

5) Modell, who complained in 1995 of Cleveland’s refusal to build a new stadium for the Browns, actually had coerced the city out of the stadium business in 1973. In 1972, with Modell demanding that Cleveland rehabilitate Municipal Stadium, City Council followed the recommendation of a committee headed by George Steinbrenner III (then a Cleveland businessman) to get out of the stadium business. At that time, Modell also bought 200 acres of land in Strongsville (near what is now Southpark Mall) and threatened to build his own stadium. Thus emerged Cleveland Stadium Corp., owned by “a group headed by Art Modell.” He proposed $10 million in improvements to Municipal Stadium and provided Cleveland with an additional $10 million in revenue, in exchange for a $1-per-year, 25-year lease, which was signed on Oct. 29, 1973.

6) Jim Brown: “Art understood business and money. When Art came to Cleveland, he was after three things: to create the TV doubleheader, bring a dose of Manhattan to the NFL, and rule the Cleveland Browns. He accomplished all three.”

7) Not only was Modell to blame for the departure of Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown, but he may also have been to blame for Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown’s departure. The latter, who had his eyes on an acting career, was filming a movie in the summer of 1966. It was possible that he would be late to training camp. Jim Brown, again in his autobiography: “Art turned out the lights … on my return to pro football. Art issued a public ultimatum. He told the press if I didn’t show up on time for camp, I would be fined $100 for each day I missed. Had Art not done that, I still might have returned. Art’s edict removed that possibility. Art should have known, intimidation does not work with me. It was a bad move by a smart man.”

8) Modell, who was steeped in the politics of professional sports, was also touted for entrance into the politics of the real world. Harris writes: “In 1980, he had already been mentioned as a possible Republican party candidate for lieutenant governor of Ohio and … his name would come up as a possible candidate for governor. Whenever Modell’s name was linked to political rumors, his success as a businessman was always cited. Despite public acclaim, there was, by 1980, a certain amount of illusion to Art Modell’s apparent success.”

9) It was eventually a disregard for local politics that prompted Modell to divorce his team from the City by the Lake. Even though Cleveland politicos agreed to improve Municipal Stadium in 1995, Modell issued a public moratorium on discussions about both the stadium and the franchise. That coincided with those “secret discussions” (revealed after the fact in the Plain Dealer) with the State of Maryland to move the franchise to Baltimore for the 1996 season. Modell’s announcement came just days before the public was to vote on the extension of the sin tax that would fund the improvements on Municipal Stadium. In a letter to Cleveland Mayor Mike White and Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, Modell said that the passing of the referendum was probably not enough to keep the Browns in northern Ohio.

10) When Modell eventually moved his team (not “the Browns”) from Cleveland to Baltimore, he became a national punchline. This amusing excerpt from Wikipedia: “The hostile fan reaction to Modell’s planned move of the franchise to Baltimore has been lampooned and chroniclized in many media circles, particularly in print and television. On the cover of the Dec. 4, 1995 issue of Sports Illustrated titled ‘Battle for the Browns,’ there is a cartoon of Modell punching a Browns fan — adorned with a Browns helmet/dog and dog-bone mask — in the stomach. An episode of ‘The Drew Carey Show’ (whose title character is a native Clevelander) referenced Modell. During a party at Drew’s house, which featured many Cleveland personalities, former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar asks Drew where the bathroom is. Drew directs Kosar to the bathroom, following with the instruction, ‘Just don’t take a Modell.’”