NFL Legendary Owner Art Modell Dead At 87

[BelichickFan]

Leave your hatred for the common criminal - 'hating' Modell for taking the Browns away is a waste of time.

I'll hate who I want. Thanks.

 

[Kontradiction]

As a former Browns fan, yeah, I'd say Good Riddance and ***** You is more appropriate for Modell.

On the other hand, had the Browns not moved I wouldn't have needed a new team and wouldn't have been a Patriots fan (although my wife already was).

Modell was a piece of ***** and I hope he rests in eternal agony.

Eternal agony over a sports team, eh? I like your style. :rocker:




:bricks:

 

[AzPatsFan]

Art Modell was the only owner who ever fired, not one but two, Hall of Fame head Coaches; and perhaps the best two there ever were.

Both of whom proved subsequently that he was wrong.:snob:

 

[TrueBeliever]

Los Angeles lost the Raiders, Rams, and the Chargers. Do I hate the individuals involved with the decision? No. When it comes down to everything, it's just business.

Well now wait a minute. Hardly anyone noticed when those teams left. The Browns still had a lot of support. Selling tickets wasn't an issue for them like the L.A. teams. Maybe if you took the average number of fans at a home game for them and combined them, you'd have as many as Cleveland was averaging when the Browns left.

I'm not trying to contradict myself, I'm just saying it's kind of an apples and oranges thing.

 

[TrueBeliever]

As I said, I was a BelichickFan when he was in Cleveland so I liked him. He took a 3-13 team and turned them into a team that made the playoffs and beat Parcells in the playoffs. I don't count the last year as that was a debacle once the move was announced.

The staff he had there is well known and remarkable with the likes of Ozzie Newsome, Nick Saban, Kirk Ferentz among others.

At the end of the day, though, he was largely done in by the QB. He was proven right to get rid of Kosar but, unlike here, he didn't have Brady to step in. Testeverde was OK but Bernie was so loved in Cleveland that Bill was working from a very poisoned well.

The simplest way to put it is this :

In the last year before Belichick took over the Browns were 3-13 and allowed a league high 462 points.

In the *last year that Belichick was there the Browns were 11-5 and allowed a league low 204 points.

*last, again, doesn't count the poisoned year when the move was announced,.

Think about is, 3-13 to 11-5 and they allowed 44% as many points, the points allowed were more than cut in half. Most points allowed to least points allowed.

It's also worth noting that BB's notoriously tight-lipped demeanor in dealing with the press is a direct result of his time in Cleveland. The media there hated Modell, but since he avoided reporters like the plague those last few years, they went after Belichick instead. And the Kosar thing sure didn't help. BB learned pretty quick that anything he said would be twisted eight ways from Sunday, so nowadays he just doesn't give them any ammunition.

 

[TrueBeliever]

Instead he died a selfish, largely hated man who couldn't keep the team in his family anyway.

Now wait a minute. I was under the impression that moving the team to Balty solved all his financial woes. Only since his death have I heard that he still had to sell the team due to money problems. I had always assumed that he sold the team because he was getting old or something.

 

[ausbacker]

I've never owned a sports team so I don't know how I'd react to the Browns-Baltimore-Modell situation if it ever presented. That said, Modell brought much to the game (despite your personal opinion). RIP.

The Ravens have became an organisation I despise but respect. That's enough of an accomplishment there.

 

[NinjaZX6R]

As I said, I was a BelichickFan when he was in Cleveland so I liked him. He took a 3-13 team and turned them into a team that made the playoffs and beat Parcells in the playoffs. I don't count the last year as that was a debacle once the move was announced.

The staff he had there is well known and remarkable with the likes of Ozzie Newsome, Nick Saban, Kirk Ferentz among others.

At the end of the day, though, he was largely done in by the QB. He was proven right to get rid of Kosar but, unlike here, he didn't have Brady to step in. Testeverde was OK but Bernie was so loved in Cleveland that Bill was working from a very poisoned well.

The simplest way to put it is this :

In the last year before Belichick took over the Browns were 3-13 and allowed a league high 462 points.

In the *last year that Belichick was there the Browns were 11-5 and allowed a league low 204 points.

*last, again, doesn't count the poisoned year when the move was announced,.

Think about is, 3-13 to 11-5 and they allowed 44% as many points, the points allowed were more than cut in half. Most points allowed to least points allowed.

You may be the only Browns fan (ex) who likes Belichick.

 

[BelichickFan]

Now wait a minute. I was under the impression that moving the team to Balty solved all his financial woes. Only since his death have I heard that he still had to sell the team due to money problems. I had always assumed that he sold the team because he was getting old or something.

He sold the team because he had to. I can't give any details as I didn't follow the bastard closely enough but it wasn't his choice. The whole point of moving in the first place was to keep the team in the family. Had he known the outcome he could have just sold it in Cleveland and spared himself the aggravation of being hated.

You may be the only Browns fan (ex) who likes Belichick.

I know, they can't get over him releasing Kosar. They love their Bernie. But the numbers are what they are. 3-13 to 11-5. Most points allowed to least point allowed.

 

[TrueBeliever]

He sold the team because he had to. I can't give any details as I didn't follow the bastard closely enough but it wasn't his choice. The whole point of moving in the first place was to keep the team in the family. Had he known the outcome he could have just sold it in Cleveland and spared himself the aggravation of being hated.

I did some reading last night and couldn't find any more details either. There was a good quote from a friend of his who put it this way: "It became a league of billionaires and he was still just a millionaire."

Unfortunately this is the way it often goes down; the decisions of a few rich and/or powerful people at the top end up screwing thousands upon thousands of others (i.e. the fans.) Like when the city commissioner or whatever in New York decided he didn't like Walter O'Malley and absolutely positively would not give the Dodgers a new ballpark, so the Dodgers left, and thousands of baseball fans got their hearts broken.

But hey, BF, if it brought you over to our side, at least something good came out of it. I myself was more of a Packers fan at that time, and ironically it was the Packers beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl that made me realize I liked the Pats more.

Anyway, I also saw a headline that the Browns are planning on doing some sort of tribute or moment of silence to honor Modell before tomorrow's home game against the Eagles. Talk about a rock and a hard place. :bricks:

 

[BelichickFan]

But hey, BF, if it brought you over to our side, at least something good came out of it.

Believe me, it was the best thing that ever happened to me - especially as Belichick ended up here although, as I said, I was locked into the Patriots by then anyway. It definitely completed the circle though.

Anyway, I also saw a headline that the Browns are planning on doing some sort of tribute or moment of silence to honor Modell before tomorrow's home game against the Eagles. Talk about a rock and a hard place. :bricks:

Yeah, that is "interesting". It won't end well. There was a thread about it on the Browns board I read, but it was merged into the :

ART MODELL Enema Thread

There were three seemingly main suggestions :

1) Standing up and everyone turning their backs to the field.
2) Booing as loud as possible during the moment of silence.
3) Chanting "***** You Modell" during the moment of silence.

I'm assuming #2 will win out.

He doesn't deserve a moment of silence. He stole their team (his legal but not his moral right). He claimed he left the name, colors and history but that wasn't the original intent, he originally intended to make it the Baltimore Browns but relented when Cleveland stood up for itself.

I know it's not nice but I'm glad he's dead and I'm glad he suffered the misery of having to sell his team before he died.

FWIW when they returned I took the day off work to watch the expansion draft with the intent of being a Browns fan again. I even went to the opener of the return as I happened to be visiting friends at that time. But you pick a team with your heart not your head and by that time I was all Patriot even though Belichick was still a yucky Jet.

 

[NinjaZX6R]

I did some reading last night and couldn't find any more details either. There was a good quote from a friend of his who put it this way: "It became a league of billionaires and he was still just a millionaire."

Unfortunately this is the way it often goes down; the decisions of a few rich and/or powerful people at the top end up screwing thousands upon thousands of others (i.e. the fans.) Like when the city commissioner or whatever in New York decided he didn't like Walter O'Malley and absolutely positively would not give the Dodgers a new ballpark, so the Dodgers left, and thousands of baseball fans got their hearts broken.

But hey, BF, if it brought you over to our side, at least something good came out of it. I myself was more of a Packers fan at that time, and ironically it was the Packers beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl that made me realize I liked the Pats more.

Anyway, I also saw a headline that the Browns are planning on doing some sort of tribute or moment of silence to honor Modell before tomorrow's home game against the Eagles. Talk about a rock and a hard place. :bricks:

They will be booing it. Mark it down.

 

[captain stone]

I hold Modell in somewhat less contempt than the Irsays. At least Modell gave Browns fans
some advance notice; what the Irsays did to Baltimore was despicable & cowardly.

Good riddannce, Artie. Say hi to the lying, cowardly, backstabbing drunkard Bob Irsay in Hell.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I do like buying from Modells sporting goods though,they have some good stuff

Funny thing though is the fact that the nearest Modells store if you live in Cleveland is far east in Maryland ...haha

 

[BelichickFan]

I do like buying from Modells sporting goods though,they have some good stuff

Funny thing though is the fact that the nearest Modells store if you live in Cleveland is far east in Maryland ...haha

Don't know if you're kidding but Art Modell had nothing to do with Modells.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Don't know if you're kidding but Art Modell had nothing to do with Modells.

In a way Art did........Art's grandfather was the original owner and opened the store in the late 1800s....so the Modells family certainly had the chain although Art was not the direct owner...but it's still in the Modell family which includes Art and still is with the current owner who is a Modell.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Say hi to the lying, cowardly, backstabbing drunkard Bob Irsay in Hell.

That would be the Bob Irsay who secretly took the team out of Maryland because the Maryland legislature and governor was about to totally ****** him over by taking the team by eminent domain? That Bob Irsay?

 

[captain stone]

The same Bob Irsay who constantly & openly visited other cities as his way of extorting the city/county of Baltimore & state of Maryland, which felt compelled to use the threat of eminent domain in order to make him honor his lease agreement? The one & same.

BTW, the Modell family has requested that the Browns not conduct a moment of silence for dear old Artie. Smart move.

 

[TrueBeliever]

One final thought...

If any team should be sure to have a moment of silence or some other tribute for Modell, it's the Bengals. Because if Modell hadn't bought the Browns and then promptly fired Paul Brown, the guy the friggin' team was NAMED FOR, Brown wouldn't have founded the Bengals, and likely no one else would have either.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Is there any word of what happened during the 'moment of silence'? I can't turn the channel from the Pats !!!