Former Cleveland Browns Owner Art Modell Gone At 87

Art Modell was the driving force behind the creation of Modern Night Football. He was a visionary who saw the NFL’s future in television and worked tirelessly to transform the game into the product most of us love today. Were it not for one decision, he’d likely be in the Hall of Fame and almost universally beloved. Instead, he passed this morning with an extremely complicated legacy. He was 87.

In 1996, Modell decided to move the Cleveland Browns, the team he’d owned for thirty-five-years, to Baltimore. His players were redubbed the Ravens, and half a decade later, they won a Super Bowl. The victory ushered in a sense of euphoria in parts of Maryland, but in Cleveland, it was simply another heartbreak for a city with a long history of sporting disasters.

Sports franchises move all the time. Numerous owners have made the decision to pack up their teams, but an overwhelming majority of the time, the choice is only made after the locals have stopped caring. Apathy was never a problem in Cleveland. The residents lived and died with that team, but the stadium was antiquated and falling apart. Modell claimed he was losing millions because of it, and when the politicians refused to fork over tax dollars, he packed his employees up and left.

Three years after the move, the NFL put another franchise in Cleveland. It was re-named the Browns, and over the years, many gave up hating Modell. They stopped burning the man in effigy and started embracing their new players. In a way, the latter part is what Modell always wanted. When he moved the team, he left all the records in Cleveland and all the rights to the name, hoping the city would build a new stadium and allow a new owner to come in.

Throughout his life, Modell donated millions of dollars to good causes, and by all accounts, was a great man to work for until he sold most of his stake in the Ravens in 2003. He was generous and kind. In the end, he’ll be remembered for the move to Baltimore, but hopefully, he’ll also be remembered for all of the positive changes he helped enact to the game he loved.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.