Art Modell dies at 87

[JRLeft]

[link:http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/art-modell-dies-age-87-former-owner-cleveland-browns-baltimore-ravens-moved-franchise-became-hero-villain-090612|



BALTIMORE (AP)
One of the most influential owners in the history of the NFL, Art Modell helped mold the foundation of the league.

The innovative Modell, whose reputation was forever tainted when he moved his franchise from Cleveland to Baltimore, died early Thursday. He was 87.


MODELL REMEMBERED
A look back at the life of iconic NFL owner Art Modell, who passed away Thursday morning at the age of 87.
David Modell said he and his brother, John, were at their father's side when he ''died peacefully of natural causes.''

'''Poppy' was a special man who was loved by his sons, his daughter-in-law Michel, and his six grandchildren,'' David Modell said. ''Moreover, he was adored by the entire Baltimore community for his kindness and generosity. And, he loved Baltimore.''

Modell was among the most important figures in the NFL as owner of the Cleveland Browns, who became the Ravens after he took the team to Baltimore in 1996 - a move that hounded him the rest of his life.

[Pab Sungenis]

1. Once again he

leaves town in the middle of the night.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. Actually, he didn't. That was Robert Irsay who did that.

With the Colts and Baltimore in 1984.

Modell announced the move in the middle of the 1995 season with several games left in the Browns schedule. After the end of the season (in January 1996), it was announced by the NFL that Cleveland would be given a new team with Browns name and team history intact.

[Auggie]

3. As I posted in the Sports Group: being "influential" doesn't make him a good owner

So he made his fellow owners very wealthy. For that we should rejoice?

He ripped the heart out of a great football city.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. For two months.

Cleveland had a legitimate beef with him and the NFL for two months.

They currently have a team named the Cleveland Browns with records and history belonging to the Cleveland Browns. Hardly having one's proverbial heart ripped out.

[1StrongBlackMan]

7. Spoken as a Non-Clevelander. n/t

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. But as a Baltimorian.....

.....who watched its team literally run out of town in middle of the night, with the team's name and history going to a city to which it had no connection or meaning, then watching various NFL owners use the city as a pawn in getting new stadium deals for themselves, then watching the NFL pass the team over for expansion, all over the course of a 12 year period (and even after that still watching another city lay claim to your old team's name and history), that's much more disheartening than a 2 month period of uncertainty.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Cleveland was able to get a guarantee of a new team in such a short time, not to mention the fact that the team would bear the old team's name and history, but Cleveland had it easy in comparision to Baltimore.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. Okay ...

I get that.

I have found memories of sitting in the (cheap seat) bleachers, long before it was re-branded to become the fashionable "Dawg Pound."

Us Clevelanders hold eternal grudges ... must be all that steel that was manufactured got into our blood.

And LeBron thinks he'll ever be able to go back?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. That's true.

I do hope that Cleveland gets its day to reveal in some sports championship--Browns, Indians, Cavs--it's been too long.

[1StrongBlackMan]

11. I was a Browns fan ...

seating in the Bleacher in 10 below weather with the wind whipping in off the lake ... I was an Indians fan when on Opening Day, there was me and maybe 2,500 other souls, in a stadium that held 80,000 ... I was never really a Cavs, but then, I'm no fan of Pro Basketball.

[Renew Deal]

4. Link?

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. As a long, long time ...

Cleveland Browns fan, Modell broke my heart when he moved the team. To this day, I root for the Browns and any team playing against the Ravens.

Time to let it go ... R.I.P., Art.

BTW, I went to school with his sons, David and John. My thoughts are with them.