40 replies to this topic

[Oriole85]

ESPN:Modell was mostly a model owner

http://espn.go.com/n...owner-many-ways


It's complicated legacy to say the least.

[Oriole85]

ESPN: Remembering Art Modell's charm

http://espn.go.com/n...ell-charm-humor

[Mark Carver]

ESPN:Modell was mostly a model owner

http://espn.go.com/n...owner-many-ways


It's complicated legacy to say the least.

Bill Polian said it best. You can not right the history book on the NFL without Art Modell's name not being mentioned in it. And for that reason, him not in the HOF is a travesty.

[Mark Carver]

Ray Lewis comments -

http://www.nfl.com/n... ... line_stack

[Mark Carver]

Jim Brown comments -

http://www.nfl.com/n... ... line_stack

[Mark Carver]

A very nice piece by Steve Sabol, of NFL Films.

http://www.nfl.com/n... ... t-the-move

[Oriole85]

Here's some links I saw from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:


Art Modell's decision to move Cleveland Browns haunted him for rest of life (http://www.cleveland...lly_recove.html)

Art Modell's time in Cleveland didn't turn out the way he imagined it would: Bill Livingston (http://www.cleveland...emembrance.html)

[DJ MC]

The NFL is going to have a moment of silence in every stadium this weekend for Modell. Even in Cleveland, apparently.

[Oriole85]

The NFL is going to have a moment of silence in every stadium this weekend for Modell. Even in Cleveland, apparently.

I think Cleveland is in a no-win situation. They have the moment of silence and they are disrespectful it looks bad. If they don't, it's disrespectful not honoring a man who made great contributions to Cleveland(for nearly 35 years) and the NFL.

[Chris B]

I think Cleveland is in a no-win situation. They have the moment of silence and they are disrespectful it looks bad. If they don't, it's disrespectful not honoring a man who made great contributions to Cleveland(for nearly 35 years) and the NFL.

I'm interested to see what the fans actually do there.

[Mike B]

I think Cleveland is in a no-win situation. They have the moment of silence and they are disrespectful it looks bad. If they don't, it's disrespectful not honoring a man who made great contributions to Cleveland(for nearly 35 years) and the NFL.

I think your right on, but frankly I am tired of all the crap coming from Cleveland. Art moved his team, and I guess he could have kept it local with Lerner, but the city of Cleveland was treated much better than the city of Baltimore. Enough with the negative Art stuff and if the morons there make a mockery of the moment of silence hopefully the national media will call them on it and maybe it will help get Art his rightful place in the HOF.

[Chris B]

Well, that's that.

Browns accept Modell family’s request no Modell recognition
http://www.timesrepo... ... ecognition

[Mike B]

Smart move by David, but IMO screw Cleveland.

[Oriole85]

Truth of the matter is the Modell's made the decision a lot easier for the Browns. I know a lot is being made about how disrespectful Cleveland is in all of this. Do you really expect them to be mourning the man who took away an important fabric of their city and moved it? Yes I know they got a team back with all their records and nostalgia, but it's not quite the same thing. It be nice if everyone could be adults and recognize the contributions he made in Cleveland, Baltimore, and throughout the NFL. Let me just put it this way, I don't think if the NFL ordered all teams to honor Robert Irsay after he died, that would've gone over too well around here. (And no I am not saying that Irsay made the same contributions to his community and NFL as Modell, just pointing I think the reaction would've been negative)

[Mike B]

Truth of the matter is the Modell's made the decision a lot easier for the Browns. I know a lot is being made about how disrespectful Cleveland is in all of this. Do you really expect them to be mourning the man who took away an important fabric of their city and moved it? Yes I know they got a team back with all their records and nostalgia, but it's not quite the same thing. It be nice if everyone could be adults and recognize the contributions he made in Cleveland, Baltimore, and throughout the NFL. Let me just put it this way, I don't think if the NFL ordered all teams to honor Robert Irsay after he died, that would've gone over too well around here. (And no I am not saying that Irsay made the same contributions to his community and NFL as Modell, just pointing I think the reaction would've been negative)

Your right about them making it easier on Cleveland, but let's not compare Art to Bullet Bob.
Art did not have drunken news conferences in airports.
Art did not stiff limo or cab drivers.
Art did not call plays from owners boxes.
Art did not trade HOF QB's without the knowledge of any of his football people, especially when he did not know any of the players involved.
Art did not fly into his NFL city on game days and fly out immediately after a game usually in a drunken state.
Art did not treat arguably the greatest QB in NFL history like a practice squad player.
The list of crap this city put up at the hands of Bob Irsay is long. Frankly, I am not sure what the NFL did when Irsay died. If memory serves Irsay died at the end of an NFL season so maybeit was not possible.
I think the man was maybe the worst owner that professional sports has ever seen, but would not have been disrespectful at a moment of silence.

[Oriole85]

Your right about them making it easier on Cleveland, but let's not compare Art to Bullet Bob.
Art did not have drunken news conferences in airports.
Art did not stiff limo or cab drivers.
Art did not call plays from owners boxes.
Art did not trade HOF QB's without the knowledge of any of his football people, especially when he did not know any of the players involved.
Art did not fly into his NFL city on game days and fly out immediately after a game usually in a drunken state.
Art did not treat arguably the greatest QB in NFL history like a practice squad player.
The list of crap this city put up at the hands of Bob Irsay is long. Frankly, I am not sure what the NFL did when Irsay died. If memory serves Irsay died at the end of an NFL season so maybeit was not possible.
I think the man was maybe the worst owner that professional sports has ever seen, but would not have been disrespectful at a moment of silence.

You completely missed the point, I said they weren't the same and it wasn't hypothetical, I just said it wouldn't go over well. Every city has it's bad apples, Baltimore has gotten a bad wrap in many corners such as last night I was reading about Yankees fans being given a hard time at OPACY. Every city has their bad apples. Ok, you want a better example but not Baltimore related, how about Walter O'Malley if they had to give a moment of silence in Brooklyn, how well would that have gone over?

[Mike B]

No, I got the point and I am not trying to be jerk, just IMO, Art is nowhere near the same as Irsay. The O'Malley/ Brooklyn is a good match. But not even I am old enough to remember that move.
As for bad apples, I think the difference in some cities bad behavior is cheered. Philly, And New York at times come to mind.

[DJ MC]

You completely missed the point, I said they weren't the same and it wasn't hypothetical, I just said it wouldn't go over well. Every city has it's bad apples, Baltimore has gotten a bad wrap in many corners such as last night I was reading about Yankees fans being given a hard time at OPACY. Every city has their bad apples. Ok, you want a better example but not Baltimore related, how about Walter O'Malley if they had to give a moment of silence in Brooklyn, how well would that have gone over?

Here's the difference: Other than moving the team (which even his supporters realize is the blackest of black marks against him) Modell was a model owner in the NFL, and did much for the league at-large that helped put them in the position the league has today.

There isn't a single thing Bob Irsay did that the NFL appreciated. He came into the league because Carroll Rosenbloom * wanted to buy the Rams but couldn't while he owned the Colts, so he convinced Irsay to buy the Rams and trade teams. He was a terrible person off of the field, who destroyed a championship franchise in a city with a rabid fan base. He openly flaunted the fact that he was going to move and was very close to bringing unprecedented legal action against his franchise to prevent the move (which there is a very good chance he would have lost, and the league would never want to see an owner lose his team like that). When he DID move his team, it was to a small city in the middle of nowhere. He then led that franchise to another fifteen years of futility, to the point that even after most of a decade of success the team was perilously close to moving again.

*Carroll Rosenbloom never gets mentioned in all of this. Likely because he was the owner through most of the championship seasons. Yet it was his desire to own the Rams--and be closer to his new wife, Georgia Frontiere--that started the entire mess in the first place.

Even if Irsay had died during the regular season (he passed through the gates of Hell the Tuesday after the conference championships, and there is no mention of a tribute on the Super Bowl's Wiki page) there is no way the NFL would have honored that man with a tribute outside of Indianapolis, and likely most of the fans there were just as happy to see him shuffle off.

[MKlein76]

Wow, Todd Heap flew cross country to come pay his respects to Art. Very classy of Heap, IMO.

"It's very important for me to say goodbye," Heap told The Baltimore Sun. "I have so many great memories of Art. He was just a great guy all-around. He meant so much to this community and this organization, but he meant a lot to me personally. He was just a great man, a great leader, a great example, an uplifting guy. He was always making people smile. I just have so many great memories of him."

http://www.baltimore... ... ?track=rss

[Mike B]

Wow, Todd Heap flew cross country to come pay his respects to Art. Very classy of Heap, IMO.



http://www.baltimore... ... ?track=rss

Evidently Heap came in yesterday and was at the game last night. Todd heap along with many who have passed through here is total class.