The Case against Art "Judas" Modell Redux

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This blog entry originally was written and posted back on Jan. 9, 2011. It was my fourth-ever Joe Cleveland blog entry, and it has been one of my most read and commented on pieces. Due to the circumstances with Art Modell's candidacy with the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, I felt it was time to not only repost this, but also give it a bit of an update. So, here goes. Hope this shows how unworthy Modell is of a Hall of Fame bust.)

Among the 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which will be voted on next weekend and revealed the day before the Super Bowl, was former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell.

Joe Cleveland was not happy to see that Modell made the final cut. It's only the second time that Modell has been a finalist. However, with his death back in September, I'm not necessarily surprised his name is on this list.

It amazes me every year that a guy like Modell can continue to garner interest in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Only once has Modell become a finalist. Thanks to the efforts of former Plain Dealer Browns writer Tony Grossi, he was passed over. But, it seems like he's always on the preliminary list for Hall of Fame consideration, and it baffles a guy like Joe Cleveland.

What exactly did Modell do that was so noteworthy? Everything I can think of was pretty negative.

First and foremost, he moved a franchise with one of the deepest NFL traditions with a rabid fanbase to a different location. The man moved the Browns to Baltimore because he was broke. Why was he broke? Because he was (and is) a poor businessman, plain and simple. People can blame the City of Cleveland for not building the Browns a new stadium when Jacobs Field and Gund Arena were built, but the fact is, Modell voluntarily took over control of Stadium Corp. from the City of Cleveland and had an iron-clad lease.

Plus, he turned down the opportunity to get in on the Gateway project, focusing on trying to remodel and refurbish his current stadium, until he saw the "palaces" being built for the Indians and the Cavs, and all the revenue it generated, along with the sweet leases their team's owners got for moving into those new facilities. Also, it didn't dawn on him until later that his biggest tenant, the Indians, would be leaving his stadium, and right when they were on the cusp of becoming a winner.

Modell mishandled the situation with Cleveland from the rip, to the point that he painted himself in a corner and felt that he had "no choice" but to move to Baltimore.

He's probably the only NFL owner to continually be in the red every single year. I could take over an NFL team and make money without even trying. Modell continually was broke. Why? He can only blame himself. Only a guy Modell could go broke by only paying $1 a year to the City of Cleveland to rent his stadium.

Moving the Browns is a bad enough sin on its own and should immediatly strike down any conversation about the man being an NFL "immortal." He's an immortal jackass, but not an immortal.

But, wait, there's more.

Secondly, he fired one of the greatest coaches in football history in Paul Brown. You don't fire a guy like Paul Brown!

Paul Brown revolutionized the game of football. He changed the way people coach the game and the way people play the game. He invented the screen pass, the draw play, the messenger guard system that paved the way for those helmet-to-helmet devices all QBs have (by the way, he invented that, too. Look it up. He put a speaker in QB George Ratterman's helmet in 1956 during a preseason game, but unfortunately, the signal kept picking up the police and cab radios so it was scrapped), coaches calling plays, scripting plays, the passing game, you name it. The man was ahead of his time, and that was why his Browns won NFL championships seven times in his first 10 years and lost in the championship game the three other times. He even got back to the NFL Championship game (1957) after a mediocre 1956 season thanks to his drafting of the great Jim Brown, but lost.

Then in 1961, Modell bought the team and decided to stick his nose into things. Brown didn't like that. Brown had supposedly lost the ear of his team, and, after a decent 1962 season, Modell fired him. Sure, the Browns recovered to win the 1964 title under Blanton Collier, but they haven't won a title since.

Modell believed that the 1964 title "vindicated" him. All it really did was prove that another guy would win with the team that Paul Brown assembled.
Collier kept the Browns' ship afloat with winning seasons from 1965-69. The Browns reached three other NFL Championship games during that span, but lost them all (and lost them all in convincing fashion). The last two of those games (1968 and 69) would have put them in Super Bowls III and IV, respectively, had they won.

Prior to the 1966 season, the great Jim Brown was off in London filming the movie "The Dirty Dozen." Filming was delayed, and Brown was needed in London while the Browns were in training camp in July and August. Modell decided that Brown needed to focus on football and not on movies, and decided to fine him $1,000 for every day that he didn't show up. When news of the fine got back to Brown, he called an impromptu press conference and announced his retirement from football, effective immediately.

Yes, Art Modell FORCED Jim Brown to retire from football in his prime. While Leroy Kelly became a Hall of Fame running back in Brown's absence, you could only imagine how Brown's presence in the backfield for either of those two NFL Championship games he missed may have helped change the outcome of those games. Perhaps the Browns don't lose in the playoffs in 1966 or 1967 if Brown was lined up in the backfield.

We'll never know because Modell decided to stick his nose into business he shouldn't have, and Jim Brown called his bluff.

Modell stubbornly refused to hire a legitimate personnel man. Whenever he did (George Hadhazy, Ernie Accorsi), the team would see immediate success. However, Modell continued overstep his bounds and wound up running these guys out of town.

Hadhazy was the architect of the 1980 "Kardiac Kids" season. He was run out of town by Modell after that season. The team subsequently slumped to 5-11 in 1981 and only made the playoffs one other time between 1981-84.

Accorsi, who was already a well-respected NFL personnel man from his days with the Baltimore Colts, was the genius behind the trade to get Bernie Kosar in the 1985 supplemental draft. Accorsi was the architect behind the Browns roster that reached the playoffs five consecutive years from 1985-89 and reached three AFC Championship games in that span. But, Modell allowed two new hires -- head coach Bill Belichick and front office person Michael Lombardi -- to push Accorsi out the door. Accorsi wound up being the architect of the New York Giants team that won the Super Bowl in 2007.

Modell, on the eve of the 1970 season, traded his Hall of Fame receiver, Paul Warfield, for the third-overall draft pick, Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps. Phipps was God-awful; Warfield went on to become a champion with the Miami Dolphins. Coincidentally, the Browns (after some decent seasons in the early 1970s) spiraled into mediocrity until a guy named Brian Sipe and a coach named Sam Rutigliano came along with a season for the ages in 1980, which only ended in heartbreak.

Modell's players constantly held out for more money because Modell had underpaid them, or broken his word on contracts. Holdouts by Frank Minnifield and Webster Slaughter helped derail the Browns' playoff successes of the late 80s as the 1990s came aboard.

Modell hired Belichick, but it was before Belichick was truly ready to become a head coach. He passed on Bill Cowher, who wound up leading the rival Steelers to immediate success. Belichick, meanwhile, alienated most of the team's fanbase with questionable in-game decisions, questionable personnel decisions and a notable feud with popular Bernie Kosar that wound up leading to Kosar's PR-disaster mid-season release in 1993.

It can also be added to Modell's "legacy" that he FIRED Belichick in February of 1996, shortly after the ink dried on the deal to move the franchise to Baltimore. Belichick wound up becoming the modern-day version of Vince Lombardi when he resussicated his coaching career with the New England Patriots. So yes, Modell fired both Paul Brown and Bill Belichick, two of the best NFL head coaches in the modern era.

If it's moves like that that make you Hall of Fame worthy, that's pretty darn scary.

Modell decided he wanted to make a big spash in free agency, so he borrowed a ton of money to sign Andre Rison. Rison was a poor fit with Belichick's team and rubbed fans the wrong way with his Diva attitude. Meanwhile, Modell couldn't pay off his loans. It was a prominant reason why Modell, as he famously said, "had no choice" but to move the team.

A modern-day NFL owner shouldn't have to borrow A DIME to sign a free agent. And yet, this is what Art Modell had to do to sign Rison. The sad part is, Modell screwed himself in the deal. After announcing the deal and bringing Rison in for the press conference, his agent discovered the Browns failed to sign some paperwork. Knowing he had Modell over a barrel, he demanded more money or else he and his client would walk away, embarassing the organization.

This is the type of businessman Art Modell was and always was.

Heck, he even tried to move his team in the 1970s ... to STRONGSVILLE! Modell purchased a plot of land that he threatned to build a new stadium on if Cleveland didn't cow-tow to his demands. In the end, it proved to be a giant bluff, and both parties came to (what they believed to be) and equally beneficial agreement on a future lease. Modell wound up taking over Cleveland Municipal Stadium for the small fee of $1 per year and was in charge of all the revenue coming in. However, he was also in charge of all the maintenance and upkeep. Nobody's fault but Modell's, who failed to see the forest for the trees.

I could go on. Modell ran off Marty Schottenheimer (his most successful coach besides Collier) by sticking his nose into football business. Modell ran off Forrest Gregg, who wound up taking the Bengals to the Super Bowl (something that was sure to stick in Modell's craw, since Paul Brown founded and ran the Bengals). Modell hung on to Sam Rutigliano too long, and his decision to move the team helped derail any momentum the football team had gained by qualifying for the playoffs in 1994 under Belichick.

And, let's not forget the shabby condition his stadium was in. It constantly needed work, and the playing surface was also terrible. It was HIS stadium because of HIS decision to take over Stadium Corp. from the city. He probably thought that controlling the stadium revenue would help him make money. He was wrong.

Now, let's dissect what people believe Modell did right.

A myth is that Modell helped create Monday Night Football. Roone Aldridge of ABC Sports created Monday Night Football. All Modell did was volunteer his team and his stadium to host the very first installment. Modell was on the committee, but it wasn't his decision or his brainchild. He wasn't against the idea, but so were other people. A Hall of Famer is not created because he "agreed" with a decision to start a Monday Night game and then lobbied for his team to host it.

Also, let the record reflect that it was Modell's decision, despite that first Monday Night Football game drew a record 85,000 fans to Cleveland Stadium, to BLACK OUT the game from local television. Modell also blacked out the 1964 NFL Championship win over the Colts, despite the game being a sellout. A man of the people who "cared" about the people of Cleveland, that's for sure.

Another myth is that Modell helped smooth over the AFL-NFL merger by volunteering the Browns to join the AFL teams in the new AFC. Modell had stubbornly rebuffed any chances to jump ship during a highly-contentious negotiation session between the two leagues but finally changed his mind along with his good friend, Art Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Modell's motives was that he felt that his Browns (which had recently won an NFL championship, mind you, and had reached back-to-back NFL Championship games in the late 1960s) would come over to the "weaker" AFC and dominate.

Unfortunately, his good friend Rooney, who jointly with Modell decided to take his Steelers to the AFC, would be the one to dominate in the 1970s after many, many years of moribund play. Also, the Colts (who were the other team to jump to the AFC) qualified for the first true NFL Super Bowl in 1970 and won. It was Modell's idea, but the others who joined him reaped the rewards while Modell ran his team into the toilet.

From 1970-1995, Modell's Browns went 194-195-3. They reached the playoffs only 10 times during that span (8 times from 1980-95) and only won four total playoff games in those 10 appearances. By the way, did I mention how many championships the Browns won during that span? That would be ZERO!

Modell helped introduce revenue sharing to the league (debatable) and helped negotiate lucritive TV deals for the league (true, but only until 1990). He was on the television committee for a lot of his early years in the league, and during that time, the NFL became the country's "national pastime" thanks to TV, to the point where the market is saturated with NFL coverage and programming.

However, the caveat with this is that NONE of that expansion happened while Modell was the head of the TV committee. In fact, he was against the billion-dollar deal Jerry Jones negotiated with the upstart FOX network and voted against it. In turn, his fellow owners removed him from the committee. With visionaries like Jones running the show, the NFL's marriage with TV exploded, to the point to where networks are paying billions of dollars for the right to broadcast the games and games are now on five different networks (two cable) and playing in prime-time three nights a week.

But, in reality, that's something that helped his fellow owners get rich and didn't really pay any true dividend to the fans, other than an oversaturation of the market. You shouldn't take a spot in a Pro Football Hall of Fame from a deserving player because you helped make your fellow owners rich because of some TV deals. That's just ridiculous.

All the Baltimore love going toward Modell is downright nauseating. I wonder if they'd still be singing his praises if they realized how instrumental Modell was in the early 1990s expansion vote that went against Baltimore and benefitted Jacksonville, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C. Modell, after telling Baltimore folks that he would be their ally in the negotiating room, went back on his word by saying what a horrible market it was and that the NFL would be better off exploring these different markets. Fact is, Modell had his eye on the Baltimore market all to himself back then. It was a totally greedy and selfish maneuver. Then again, those of us who lived through his Browns' ownership aren't surprised.

The myth that Modell voluntarily gave up the Browns' name, colors and lineage to move to Baltimore is also asinine. The NFL FORCED Modell to do this because of the threat of lawsuits and injunctions filed by the City of Cleveland and Browns season ticket holders. The entire move itself was a giant black-eye for the league, especially when Modell was such a huge critic of guys like Al Davis and Bob Irsay, who moved their franchises to different towns. He angered a lot of his fellow owners by going back on his word and moving his team when he always so outspoken against franchise relocation in the NFL.

A new nickname and uniforms would have cost Modell money, and the money Baltimore paid him to move had just helped him break even. He didn't want to spend any more than he had to. which included consultants for the nickname, color scheme, logo, mascot and uniform design. A "Name the Team" contest also cost him and his staff a lot of man hours to sift through the ideas. Besides, you think he wanted to voluntarily give up the one thing he paid for back in 1961, which was the BROWNS franchise and lineage?

The NFL forced Modell to do this as a compromise to placate Cleveland (while also promising a new franchise would begin play there in three years, something the NFL never did and hasn't done since). Modell was also forced to play money to Cleveland and their season ticket holders, buying out his silent partners Bob Gries and Al Lerner, along with paying some of his fellow owners to allow him to move. In the end, he would up right back where he started -- broke, and teetering with being out of football.

The Baltimore media and fans who, with their blinders on, believe that Modell did this out of the kindness of his heart need to lay off the Kool-Aid. This is how they legitmize the fact that, while their own franchise (the Colts) was stolen out of town by Bob Irsay, they turned around and did the exact same thing, stealing another town's franchise right out from under them. This is how those folks sleep at night while still cursing the corpse that is Bob Irsay.

I'll tell you what, Baltimore -- We'll get over what Modell did to us when you get over what Irsay did to you. That starts when you guys acknowledge the fact that they are the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS and not just "Indianapolis" on your scoreboards.

Go ahead, I'll wait. Perhaps if you guys were a better fanbase, your team would still be called "Colts" instead of "Ravens."

In the end, Modell wound up selling his team (something he stubbornly refused to do in Cleveland) to a billioniare named Steve Bisciotti. With Bisciotti as his partner, the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000 (giving Modell his long-awaited Lombardi Trophy) while also turning most of the football operations over to Ozzie Newsome. Three years later, Bisciotti bought out Modell, leaving him a 1 percent interest in the team that was by and large an honorary thing until the day he died.

The fact that Modell did this allows him to be continually revered in Baltimore. Had he not done so and perhaps sold to an out-of-town interest (who might have moved the team), he'd be roasted over the spigot down there as he is up here. Just be glad, Baltimore, that you were spared the horror that would have been David Modell, Team Owner.

Modell begged and borrowed his way into the NFL when he bought the Browns (mostly with loans and with only $250,000 of his own money) and continued to run his team into debt (on TWO DIFFERENT OCCASIONS) until he finally found a billionaire to buy him out. He actually had a billionaire who wanted to buy him out in Cleveland in Al Lerner, but Modell refused. Ironcially, the Lerner family wound up owning the Browns, while Modell's family does not even own an NFL team anymore. And, that's what he gets.

He was a poor businessman before, during and after his tenure with Cleveland and into his tenure with Baltimore. For that, he does not deserve to be rewarded with a bust among such great legendary players and other contributors to the NFL. He deserved what he wound up getting -- to die, alone, as a martyr, and that's all he deserved.

If Modell ever sneaks his slimy way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even posthumously, Joe Cleveland will NEVER, EVER step foot into that building in Canton again. And, I'm sure I'm not alone in that thinking around these parts. I will be there for that induction ceremony. And, it won't be pleasent.

Here's hoping the Hall of Fame voters can overlook the sympathy factor and realize there is a lot more to Arthur Bertrum Modell than his shady maneuver to move the Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore. In fact, the more you dig deep about the guy, the more you realize just how terrible and un-Hall of Fame worthy he really and truly is.

But, that's just my opinion. Differ if you like, but remember ...

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!

Clean slate, but a short leash

There's no secret as to Joe Cleveland's feelings about Michael Lombardi, who came back to Cleveland a few days ago as Jimmy Haslam's and Joe Banner's choice as Vice President of Player Personnel.

In case you need a refresher course, here's the blog I wrote about Lombardi just a month ago, when he was heavily rumored to be the de-facto replacement for general manager Tom Heckert:

http://joeclevelandblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/no-trophy-for-this-lombardi.html

Joe Cleveland woke up Thursday to the news that Lombardi was introduced as the new GM and wished that he was still having a nightmare. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case.

It was funny to see the images contrast between the press conferences announcing Rob Chudzinski's hiring to the hiring of Lombardi. Just a week ago, Banner and Haslam were all smiles flanking Chud. One week later, Haslam and Banner wore dour grins flanking Lombardi as the Cleveland media raked all three over the coals.

Lombardi began his press conference begging for a "clean slate" and for people to be "fair." Banner, who said that he "went out on an extreme limb" to land Lombardi, also echoed those "fair" statements. Essentially, they are trying to paint the media with a brush, so that if they (and rightly so) lambaste Lombardi's first questionable move, it will show that the media just isn't giving him a chance.

Oh, they may give him a chance. Browns fans who have almost universally ripped this move a new one, may give him a chance.

But it won't come with a long leash, that's for sure.

Just when it seemed that Browns fans were accepting Chud's hiring (especially in light of some of the other NFL coaching hires in his wake, including Chip Kelly's wishy-washy flip-flop maneuver to take over the Eagles), especially considering the hiring of Norv Turner as his offensive coordinator and Ray Horton, who interviewed for the Browns head coaching job before Chud, as his defensive coordinator, that Brown and Orange balloon loudly burst with a pinprick named Lombardi.

CBS play-by-play voice Jim Nantz came on a Cleveland radio station the day of Lombardi's hiring defending it, while also ripping several members of the Cleveland media for having "personal vendettas" against him. Tony Grossi, who has been accused of personal vendettas many times during his long career covering the Browns here, and Bud Shaw were the two main culprits.

Nantz is also a friend of both Lombardi and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (and wasn't shy about admitting that fact several times during the interview), so his take can be skewered as well.

While Banner admits to going out on a limb, Haslam proclaims that he talked to numerous NFL owners who told him, "if you have the chance to hire Lombardi, don't hesitate to pounce." I can only imagine those guys were holding back snickers and guffawing after hanging up the phone with Haslam if that was the case.

If all those owners were really sold on Lombardi, than why was he a TV network shill for the last five years? Why didn't all of those other owners bring him in if he was such a "slam-dunk personnel hire?"

If he and Belichick were so closely connected at the hip, why did Belichick never hire Lombardi officially with New England? He certainly had several chances to do so, and if he did, the Boston media and fans that still call him a "genius" for winning three Super Bowls in four years (albeit with the help of some illegal videotaping, but so be it) would have accepted it.

Bill Belichick could take a dump in the middle of Downtown Boston, and it would be lauded as a great thing.

But yet, Belichick kept Lombardi at arms length during his lengthy coaching career in New England, only using him as an unofficial consultant. He did hire his son, Mick, in his scouting department, but that's not the same as hiring the man himself.

Everywhere Lombardi has gone where he's stayed for a while has been a failure. Especially his time in Cleveland during the early 1990s.

I don't need to rehash all the gory details.

Perhaps Banner, realizing that the Cleveland media and fanbase were turning on him, decided to deflect some of that criticism by bringing in the main pariah, Lombardi, to take some of the heat on him. Sure, he'll still be zinged as the guy who ultimately made the call to hire Lombardi (no one believes Haslam hired him). However, if things go south, Lombardi is the ready-made fall guy.

Perhaps they brought him in knowing that they need to win and win now. Banner proclaimed there was no such thing as a "five-year plan" under him, and with this hire, that is certainly the case. Anything less than a 7-9 season will definitely turn up the heat on Banner and Lombardi.

Perhaps Lombardi gives Chud a free pass. Suddenly, folks aren't complaining that much about Chud and his "inexperience." Now, if Chud struggles, the media and fans will blame Lombardi's personnel decisions.

Lombardi is the Hyde to Chud's Jeckyl. That may be how Haslam wants it.

In the past, the coach (Pat Shurmur) got lambasted while the GM (Heckert) was lauded. In the beginning, Phil Savage was lauded while Romeo Crennel was lambasted (that quickly turned into both being lambasted on their way out the door). In Haslam and Banner's mind, why not bring in the GM that the media and fans already dislike to take the heat off their hand-picked young rising star of a coach?

Unfortunately for Belichick, it didn't work that way during his time in Cleveland. The fans and media turned on him when it became apparent that he influenced the Dead Judas to squeeze Ernie Accorsi out the door and give Lombardi more front office responsibilities, essentially taking Accorsi's job. When it came out that Lombardi was the impetus behind Bernie Kosar's benching and subsequent release, the media and fans ripped him apart. Both men were pariahs during that final 1995 season as the team slumped from 11-5 while the franchise was in an upheaval to Baltimore.

Lombardi needs to strike gold with EVERYTHING that he does in order to keep the sharks at bay. Never has a person been hired to Cleveland who is under immense pressure to succeed from Day 1 as Lombardi is, and most of it is self-imposed.

Lombardi wasn't shy in ripping the Browns organization from his media perch after his departure. Recently, he shredded Heckert's draft, saying the drafting of Brandon Weeden was a "panicked disaster," saying that Mitchell Schwartz and John Hughes were "substantial reaches," saying that they gave up too much to move up to get Trent Richardson and then ripping them for "throwing away" a second round pick on Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft.

Now, Lombardi takes over a team where his starting quarterback is the panicked disaster, the "reaches" are his starting right tackle and key defensive line depth, his starting tailback is the guy they should have never moved up to get and his best wide receiver is the guy they "threw away" a pick on. Gordon Tweeted out, "Uh-oh, am I in trouble?" upon hearing Lombardi was hired, which shows these guys watched the NFL Network and read up on this guy.

Good luck with that, Mike.

It amazes me that an ownership group that oozed positive PR upon their debut has done such an opposite thing, especially since the media and fans were not shy about letting their feelings on Lombardi be known when it was rumored back in October that he'd be coming in. Cleveland fans have long memories.

Who knows, perhaps there is a method to their madness.

If you think about it, most every regime change was lauded by the media and fanbase. Butch Davis? Fans loved it. Phil Savage? Fans loved it. Eric Mangini? Fans (at first) loved it. Mike Holmgren? Fans loved it. All of those hires failed.

Maybe the fans hate is a good thing. Maybe the opposite reaction will get the desired action. Who knows.

Lombardi has quickly taken Chris Antonetti and Mark Sharpiro's role away as most hated Cleveland sports executive, and he hasn't even made an official move yet. That's saying something.

The Browns put themselves square in the bulls-eye with this hiring. The honeymoon is over for Jimmy Haslam. Fans are threatening to cancel their season ticket orders as a result. They are now under pressure to win and to do well. Anything less, and the short leash will be snapped back on Lombardi.

As a lifelong Browns fan who is optimistic that they will reach (and win) a Super Bowl or two during my lifetime, I can only hope they know what they are doing. As a fanbase, we can only trust Haslam and Banner that they are not the same-old, same-old when it comes to Cleveland sports owners and there is a method to their madness.

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!

The case against Art "Judas" Modell

The 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame were revealed on Sunday, and, notable to us Cleveland fans, was that Art Modell was not among them.

When Joe Cleveland read the story, he cheered like the Browns had just scored a touchdown or the Cavs had gotten a win. Sure, those things have been pretty rare lately, but you catch my drift.

It amazes me every year that a guy like Modell can continue to garner interest in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Only once has Modell become a finalist. Thanks to the efforts of Plain Dealer Browns writer Tony Grossi, he was passed over. But, it seems like he's always on the preliminary list for Hall of Fame consideration, and it baffles a guy like Joe Cleveland.

What exactly did Modell do that was so noteworthy? Everything I can think of was pretty negative.

First and foremost, he moved a franchise with one of the deepest NFL traditions with a rabid fanbase to a different location. The man moved the Browns to Baltimore because he was broke. Why was he broke? Because he was (and is) a poor businessman, plain and simple. People can blame the City of Cleveland for not building the Browns a new stadium when Jacobs Field and Gund Arena were built, but the fact is, Modell voluntarily took over control of Stadium Corp. from the City of Cleveland and had an iron-clad lease. Plus, he turned down the opportunity to get in on the Gateway project, focusing on trying to remodel and refurbish his current stadium, until he saw the "palaces" being built for the Indians and the Cavs, and all the revenue it generated, along with the sweet leases their team's owners got for moving into those new stadiums. Also, it didn't dawn on him until later that his biggest tenant, the Indians, would be leaving his stadium, and right when they were on the cusp of becoming a winner.

He's probably the only NFL owner to continually be in the red every single year. I could take over an NFL team and make money without even trying. Modell continually was broke. Why? He can only blame himself.

Moving the Browns is a bad enough sin on its own and should immediatly strike down any conversation about the man being an NFL "immortal." He's an immortal jackass, but not an immortal.

Secondly, he fired one of the greatest coaches in football history in Paul Brown. You don't fire a guy like Paul Brown! Paul Brown revolutionized the game of football. He changed the way people coach the game and the way people play the game. He invented the screen pass, the draw play, the messenger guard system that paved the way for those helmet-to-helmet devices all QBs have (by the way, he invented that, too. Look it up. He put a speaker in QB George Ratterman's helmet in 1956 during a preseason game, but unfortunately, the signal kept picking up the police and cab radios so it was scrapped), coaches calling plays, scripting plays, the passing game, you name it. The man was ahead of his time, and that was why his Browns won NFL championships seven times in his first 10 years and lost in the championship game the three other times. He even got back to the NFL Championship game (1957) after a mediocre 1956 season thanks to his drafting of the great Jim Brown, but lost.

Then, Modell bought the team and decided to stick his nose into things. Brown didn't like that. Brown had supposedly lost the ear of his team, and, after a decent 1962 season, Modell fired him. Sure, the Browns recovered to win the 1964 title under Blanton Collier, but they haven't won a title since.

Modell stubbornly refused to hire a legitimate personnel man. Whenever he did (George Hadhazy, Ernie Accorsi), the team would see immediate success. However, Modell continued overstep his bounds and wound up running these guys out of town.

Modell, on the eve of the 1970 season, traded his Hall of Fame receiver, Paul Warfield, for Mike Phipps. Phipps was God-awful; Warfield went on to become a champion with the Miami Dolphins. Coincidentally, the Browns (after some decent seasons in the early 1970s) spiraled into mediocrity until a guy named Brian Sipe and a coach named Sam Rutigliano came along with a season for the ages in 1980, which only ended in heartbreak.

Modell's players constantly held out for more money because Modell had underpaid them, or broken his word on contracts. Holdouts by Frank Minnifield and Webster Slaughter helped derail the Browns' playoff successes of the late 80s as the 1990s came aboard.

Modell hired Bill Belichick, but it was before Belichick was truly ready to become a head coach. He passed on Bill Cowher, who wound up leading the rival Steelers to immediate success. Belichick, meanwhile, alienated most of the team's fanbase with questionable in-game decisions, questionable personnel decisions and a notable feud with popular Bernie Kosar that wound up leading to Kosar's PR-disaster mid-season release in 1993.

Modell decided he wanted to make a big spash in free agency, so he borrowed a ton of money to sign Andre Rison. Rison was a poor fit with Belichick's team and rubbed fans the wrong way with his Diva attitude. Meanwhile, Modell couldn't pay off his loans. It was a prominant reason why Modell, as he famously said, "had no choice" but to move the team.

Heck, he even tried to move his team in the 1970s ... to STRONGSVILLE! Modell purchased a plot of land that he threatned to build a new stadium on if Cleveland didn't cow-tow to his demands. In the end, it proved to be a giant bluff, and both parties came to (what they believed to be) and equally beneficial agreement.

I could go on. Modell ran off Marty Schottenheimer (his most successful coach besides Collier) by sticking his nose into football business. Modell ran off Forrest Gregg, who wound up taking the Bengals to the Super Bowl (something that was sure to stick in Modell's craw, since Paul Brown founded and ran the Bengals). Modell hung on to Sam Rutigliano too long, and his decision to move the team helped derail any momentum the football team had gained by qualifying for the playoffs in 1994 under Belichick. And, let's not forget the shabby condition his stadium was in. It constantly needed work, and the playing surface was also terrible. It was HIS stadium because of HIS decision to take over Stadium Corp. from the city. He probably thought that controlling the stadium revenue would help him make money. He was wrong.

Now, let's dissect what people believe Modell did right.

A myth is that Modell helped create Monday Night Football. Roone Aldridge of ABC Sports created Monday Night Football. All Modell did was volunteer his team and his stadium to host the very first installment. Modell was on the committee, but it wasn't his decision or his brainchild. He wasn't against the idea, but so were other people. A Hall of Famer is not created because he "agreed" with a decision to start a Monday Night game and then lobbied for his team to host it.

Another myth is that Modell helped smooth over the AFL-NFL merger by volunteering the Browns to join the AFL teams in the new AFC. Modell had stubbornly rebuffed any chances to jump ship during a highly-contentious negotiation session between the two leagues but finally did. Modell's motives was that he felt that his Browns (which had recently won an NFL championship, mind you, and were starting to regain that postseason mojo in the late 60s) would come over to the "weaker" AFC and dominate. Unfortunately, his good friend Art Rooney, who jointly with Modell decided to take his Steelers to the AFC, would be the one to dominate in the 1970s after many, many years of moribund play. Also, the Colts (who were the other team to jump to the AFC) qualified for the first true NFL Super Bowl in 1970 and won. It was Modell's idea, but the others who joined him reaped the rewards while Modell ran his team into the toilet.

Modell helped introduce revenue sharing to the league (debatable) and helped negotiate lucritive TV deals for the league (probably true). He was on the television committee for a lot of his later years in the league, and during that time, the NFL's marriage with TV exploded, to the point to where networks are paying billions of dollars for the right to broadcast the games and games are now on five different networks (two cable) and playing in prime-time three nights a week. But, in reality, that's something that helped his fellow owners get rich and didn't really pay any true dividend to the fans, other than an oversaturation of the market. You shouldn't take a spot in a Pro Football Hall of Fame from a deserving player because you helped make your fellow owners rich because of some TV deals. That's just ridiculous.

The myth that Modell voluntarily gave up the Browns' name, colors and lineage to move to Baltimore is also asinine. The NFL FORCED Modell to do this because of the threat of lawsuits and injunctions filed by the City of Cleveland and Browns season ticket holders. The entire move itself was a giant black-eye for the league, especially when Modell was such a huge critic of guys like Al Davis and Bob Irsay, who moved their franchises to different towns. He angered a lot of his fellow owners by going back on his word and moving his team when he always so outspoken against franchise relocation in the NFL.

A new nickname and uniforms would have cost Modell money, and the money Baltimore paid him to move had just helped him break even. He didn't want to spend any more than he had to. which included consultants for the nickname, color scheme, logo, mascot and uniform design. A "Name the Team" contest also cost him and his staff a lot of man hours to sift through the ideas. Besides, you think he wanted to voluntarily give up the one thing he paid for back in 1961, which was the BROWNS franchise and lineage? The NFL forced Modell to do this as a compromise to placate Cleveland (while also promising a new franchise would begin play there in three years, something the NFL never did and hasn't done since). Modell was also forced to play money to Cleveland and their season ticket holders, buying out his silent partners Bob Gries and Al Lerner, along with paying some of his fellow owners to allow him to move. In the end, he would up right back where he started -- broke, and teetering with being out of football.

In the end, Modell wound up selling his team (something he stubbornly refused to do in Cleveland) to a billioniare named Steve Bisciotti. With Bisciotti as his partner, the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000 (giving Modell his long-awaited Lombardi Trophy) while also turning most of the football operations over to Ozzie Newsome. Three years later, Bisciotti bought out Modell, leaving him a 1 percent interest in the team that is by and large an honorary thing.

Modell begged and borrowed his way into the NFL when he bought the Browns (mostly with loans) and continued to run his team into debt until he finally found a billionaire to buy him out. He actually had a billionaire who wanted to buy him out in Cleveland in Al Lerner, but Modell refused. Today, the Lerner family owns the Browns, while Modell's family does not. And, that's what he gets.

He was a poor businessman before, during and after his tenure with Cleveland and into his tenure with Baltimore. For that, he does not deserve to be rewarded with a bust among such great legendary players and other contributors to the NFL. He deserves to die, alone, as a martyr, and that's all he deserves.

The day that man dies will be the cause of a big celebration in Joe Cleveland's house, that's for sure. And, if Modell ever sneaks his slimy way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, posthumously or not, Joe Cleveland will NEVER, EVER step foot into that building in Canton again. And, I'm sure he's not alone in that thinking around these parts.

But, that's just my opinion. Differ if you like, but remember, until next time ... Cleveland Rocks!