How I'll Remember Art Modell

I’m not going to cheer for Art Modell’s death.

But I’m also not going to pretend like it should be a sad day in Cleveland.

I’ve heard a whole lot in the last 24 hours about how great of a guy Modell was, and how much he loved to laugh, and how he did so much for the game of the NFL, and the city of Cleveland. And I just don’t care.

Yes, he was a human being, and he has died. And I wish his family nothing but peace.

But I can’t sit here and act like every Browns fan should be mourning Modell’s death.

Conversely, I can’t begrudge any Baltimore Ravens fan or any member of that organization for mourning him either. That city and fan base had their team ripped from them as well when the Colts moved to Indianapolis. Modell gave them football again, and did it with a great, stable, storied franchise. With all that, of course they should celebrate his life.

But that doesn’t mean I have to. 

Multiple times Wednesday night, I saw tweets that said “Art Modell was the last one to win a Championship in Cleveland in 1964.”

That means absolutely nothing to me. I wasn’t even a thought in the back of my mother’s mind in 1964, let alone alive to see the city celebrate the win. Hell, I don’t even remember the Browns ever winning a playoff game and I was alive in 1994—yet hardly cognizant of what was going on.  

As far as I’m concerned, Modell stole Cleveland’s football team for no good reason. He took it away from us. He took our franchise, one with a rich winning history, and moved it to Baltimore.

And then he won a Super Bowl.

Modell said that in the end, he had “no choice” but to move the team. I simply don’t see how that’s true.

He could have sold it.

But as former Browns GM Earnie Accorsi said on 92.3 The Fan today with Bull & Fox, Modell “wasn’t going to sell it” because the team was “the love of his life.”

To me, anyone that says the situation “was more complicated than portrayed” is choosing to ignore the fact that the Browns could have been sold. I’ve heard plenty of times that Modell was broke and needed the money. If he loved Cleveland as much as he claimed to, he would’ve sold the team and to someone who would have kept our storied franchise where it belonged. 

Yes, I know we still technically have all those records and colors and whatever else here in Cleveland, but as far as I’m concerned, the Ravens are the old Browns. All our tradition, stability, and everything else we loved about that franchise is in Baltimore. It starts with their front office, as Ozzie Newsome is their General Manager.

Ozzie Newsome is a Cleveland Browns Hall of Fame Tight End. He’s on the Cleveland Browns Stadium Ring of Honor. There’s no good reason he should be the GM of the freaking Baltimore Ravens. The principle of the matter drives me up the wall every time I think about it.

I recently watched this video on YouTube of the NBC telecast of the last Browns game in Cleveland in 1996. To me, that was the day the franchise died. And at the time, even color analyst Mike Ditka said, “If Modell had any sort of sense of dignity, he would have sold the team.”

You know why? Cleveland supported that team through thick and thin. I’m not going to claim I remember Municipal Stadium because I don’t, but I’ve heard enough people say that it was a s— hole, but it was our s— hole. And, from what I understand (do correct me if I’m wrong on this), the city had voted to build a new stadium for Modell and the Browns. With all that, I don’t think I’ll ever understand why Modell chose to move the team instead of just sell it.

And for everyone who says that Modell is such a great guy who was misunderstood, that’s all well and good. But don’t expect me to feel sympathy for someone who was so selfish he claimed he had “no choice” but to move the team just so he could keep his precious NFL franchise. I won’t do it.   

Again, don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying that we should celebrate Modell’s death. That’s both inhumane and absurd. As 92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman tweeted, “Modell was a poor sports owner. Not a terrorist, child molester, murder. Death is a part of life, and there’s no way I’d cheer for it.”

Carman’s right. It’s not something to celebrate.

But Clevelanders, that doesn’t mean we should ever forget what that man did to our city, our franchise, and us. We went three years without football in a town that lives for it. We love our Browns with a passion that is unmatched by most other fan bases in the NFL. And to take that away, and leave us with what has been a pathetic excuse for an NFL franchise…

To me, at the very least that’s unforgettable. And for many, it’s probably unforgiveable.

So I’ll leave you with this. I know I’m going to remember Art Modell for the villain he was. I don’t care what good he did for the NFL. I don’t care that he was the last owner to win a Championship in Cleveland.

I never lived through any of that.

My only impression of him is the bastard that took the Browns away.

And no matter what anyone might say to try and convince me, I’ll never, ever forget that.