Art Modell dead at age 87

Dmounts wrote:Good may be he'll take his curse with him.

dnn3m wrote:

Mounts wrote:Good may be he'll take his curse with him.

I'm not one to piss on a mans grave, he was a pioneer for the modern game, but I don't have many kind words to say about the man for what he did to this city

dnn3m wrote:Just heard Art Modell died








Art Modell dies: Former Baltimore Ravens owner passes away at 87






Published


1 hour and 31 minutes ago




Associated Press








art Modell, the former Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns owner, has died. He was 87.

The team said Modell died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital,
where he had been admitted Wednesday. A cause of death was not given.


Modell was among the most important figures in the NFL as owner of
the Cleveland Browns, which became the Ravens after he took the team to
Baltimore in 1996 in a move that tarnished his reputation as one of the
league's most innovative and influential owners.

The Ravens won their lone Super Bowl in January 2001, less than a
year after Modell sold a minority interest of the team to Steve
Bisciotti. In April 2004. Bisciotti completed purchase of the franchise
but left Modell a 1 percent share.

During his four decades as an NFL owner, Modell helped negotiate the
league's lucrative contracts with television networks, served as
president of the NFL from 1967 to 1969, and chaired the negotiations for
the first the collective bargaining agreement with the players in 1968.

He also was the driving force behind the 1970 contract between the NFL and ABC to televise games on Monday night.

At one time one of Cleveland's biggest civic leaders, Modell became a pariah in Ohio after he moved the team.

"I have a great legacy, tarnished somewhat by the move," he said in
1999. "The politicians and the bureaucrats saw fit to cover their own
rear ends by blaming it on me."

The move was also believed to be the main reason why Modell never
made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was one of 15 finalists
in 2001 and a semifinalist seven times between 2004 and 2011.

"I believe Art belongs in the Hall of Fame," former New York Giants
owner Wellington Mara, now deceased, said in 2002. "I don't think I know
a person who has done more for the league than Modell, especially
through television."

Modell's Browns were among the best teams of the 1960s, led during
his first few years as owner by legendary running back Jim Brown.
Cleveland won the NFL championship in 1964 — Modell's only title with
the Browns — and played in the title game in 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Modell said he lost millions of dollars operating the Browns in
Cleveland and cited the state of Maryland's financial package, including
construction of a $200 million stadium, as his reasons for going to
Baltimore. The Ravens replaced the Baltimore Colts, who moved to
Indianapolis in 1984.

"This has been a very, very tough road for my family and me," Modell
said at the time of the move. "I leave my heart and part of my soul in
Cleveland. But frankly, it came down to a simple proposition: I had no
choice."

Ironically, the cost of the move to Baltimore left him financially
strapped and left him no choice but to put in motion the chain of events
that enabled Bisciotti to assume majority ownership of the franchise.

Bisciotti has since poured millions into the team, financing
construction of a lavish practice facility in Owings Mills, Md. As a
tribute to Modell, Bisciotti insisted that a huge oil painting of Modell
be hung above the fireplace at the entrance to the complex.

Born June 23, 1925, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Modell dropped out of high
school at age 15 and worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard cleaning out the
hulls of ships to help out his financially strapped family after the
death of his father.

He completed high school in night class, joined the Air Force in
1943, and then enrolled in a television school after World War II. He
used that education to produce one of the first regular daytime
television programs before moving into the advertising business in 1954.

A group of friends led by Modell purchased the Browns in 1961 for $4 million — a figure he called "totally excessive."

"You get few chances like this," he said at the time. "To take
advantage of the opportunity, you must have money and friends with
more."

After he sold the team and payed off all his debts he still cleared almost 500 million.

wyckedheart8 wrote: I cant and wont be happy about his death, regardless of what he did he still had people that loved him, and believe it or not he did a lot of good for the NFL and the players, yes he broke my heart but it was not his doing alone that had the Browns leaving, I hope he never gets into the H.O.F but he will, I am curious as hell to see if they honor him in any way at the home opener and how the fans will react, that will be very interesting.

Dmounts wrote:

wyckedheart8 wrote: I cant and wont be happy about his death, regardless of what he did he still had people that loved him, and believe it or not he did a lot of good for the NFL and the players, yes he broke my heart but it was not his doing alone that had the Browns leaving, I hope he never gets into the H.O.F but he will, I am curious as hell to see if they honor him in any way at the home opener and how the fans will react, that will be very interesting.

Bin laden had love ones too.

Dmounts wrote:Just trying to find out where you draw the line on the feelings of a human's love ones.

Dmounts wrote:That's not what I'm saying. You said you have compassion for Modell because he had loved ones who cared for him. I said Bin Laden had love ones of cared for him. Do you not have compassion for Bin Laden for the same reason?