Ex-ravens owner Modell dies at 87
Team move from Cleveland shades legacy
BALTIMORE — One of the most influential owners in the history of the NFL, Art Modell helped mold the foundation of the league.
The innovative Modell, whose reputation was forever tainted when he moved his franchise from Cleveland to Baltimore, died early Thursday. He was 87.
David Modell said he and his brother, John, were at their father’s side when he “died peacefully of natural causes.”
Art Modell was among the most important figures in the NFL as owner of the Cleveland Browns, who became the Ravens after he took the team to Baltimore in 1996 — a move that hounded him the rest of his life and may be the reason he is still not a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Baltimore Ravens’ owner Art Modell, who died Thursday, reveled in his team’s 2001 Super Bowl triumph.
On Saturday morning, there will be a viewing for Modell on the Ravens’ home field. On Sunday, however, no mention will be made of his passing at the home opener of the current Browns’ franchise, for fear of a backlash from still-angry fans.
“It’s a shame that one decision hurt how some people think of him, because he did so much good,” said Doug Dieken, a longtime Browns offensive lineman under Modell, who with his late wife Patricia was active in civic and charitable causes in both cities.
The Ravens won their lone Super Bowl in January 2001. In April 2004, he sold the majority interest in the Ravens to Stephen Bisciotti, retaining a 1 percent share.
Modell, who made his fortune in television advertising, helped negotiate the league’s lucrative TV contracts, including the first Monday night contract with ABC in 1970. He was league president in 1967- 69 and chaired negotiations for the league’s first collective bargaining agreement with the players in 1968.
“I have a great legacy, tarnished somewhat by the move,” he said in 1999.
Modell, whose group bought the Browns for $4 million in 1961, said he lost millions operating 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.
Ironically, the cost of the move to Baltimore left him financially strapped and left him no choice but to eventually sell the team.