Years from today, the day Art Modell moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore will be viewed as a positive transitional moment in Cleveland sports history because Art Modell was a cancer that nearly destroyed everything we Ohioans stand for.
I will never forgive Art Modell for many things. His disloyalty and cold hearted GREED in cutting Ohioan Bernie Kosar was the most personal slap in the face. But beyond the fact that Art Modell is a person of low moral character, what was most disturbing about Modell was the 34 years of incompetence he wrought upon Cleveland and Northern Ohio.
Incompetence is the inability to perform. In Cleveland sports history, nobody personified this more than Art Modell who inherited the most dominant franchise in pro football history and proceeded to drive the team to the depths of ineptitude. For a concrete example of how Modell stained Ohio, today people around the world talk about Cleveland's lack of sporting success but they never seem to mention the primary cause of our misery, Art Modell. Had Modell simply left Paul Brown in charge and not interfered in team operations, it's a certainty the Browns would have played in several Super Bowls. If you feel this statement is not supported by facts, please consider that Paul Brown took the 1967 expansion team Cincinnati Bengals twice to the Super Bowl in 1980s. One can also make concrete examples of how Modell's incompetence in managing Cleveland Stadium had much to do with the Cleveland Indians losing so badly in the 70s and 80s. Modell singlehandedly made Cleveland sports into a modern day version of Pottersville, George Bailey's nightmare version of Bedford Falls.
Modell believes he was vindicated by the 2000 Super Bowl victory of the Baltimore Ravens but this victory was tainted by the fact that the players on that squad were paid for with a portion of the windfall profit realized on the backs of Maryland taxpayers. Modell was deeply stung by the critics who pointed out that in over 30 years in Cleveland, he never appeared in, nor won a Super Bowl, so instead of pocketing all of the Maryland taxpayer windfall profit, as his every instinct must have told him to do, he did in fact add depth of talent to the Baltimore team, something he never did in Cleveland. It's true that the top 20 players on the Browns were often excellent in the Modell era but look at the players that we had on the entire roster. Modell was notorious for cycling players off the team after two or three years and replacing them with less expensive rookies. It's only one example, but would Oscar Roan have helped the Browns make the playoffs in 1979 by serving as a very competent backup tight end to Ozzie Newsome? Yes of course, but in 1979 Roan was replaced by Curtis Weathers. Weathers was a decent player but was nowhere near the player Roan was, he did however cost less than Oscar Roan. This case, taken in isolation had very little impact, but if you study closely the Browns rosters in the Modell era, it's a story that is repeated over and over and over. Talent reduction to generate salary reduction in those players that make up the last 25 roster positions was Modell's standard operating practice. The Browns failure to appear in a Super Bowl was systematic because Modell's player personnel policy forced the head coach to NOT select the best 45 players to fill his roster. Modell knew he had to pay star players to sell those season tickets so we had some great players over the years but the downgrading of talent on the rest of the team was as systematic as the teams lack of Super Bowl success.
And when Modell got lucky and a once in a generation playmaker talent like Bernie Kosar wanted to work for him due to his Ohio loyalties, the Browns came painfully close to a Super Bowl. It's easy to blame John Elway or Ernest Byner for those AFC Championship game losses, but surely Kosar would have led the Browns past the Bronco's at least one time, had Modell overcome his greed and incompetence and put just a few more resources into those teams. For starters, how much money did Modell save hiring Marty Schottenheimer as coach?
Today there are those who believe that Modell should be in the NFL Hall of Fame. The only valid reason is that Modell's contribution to the negotiation of television rights in the 1970s and 1980s helped enrich the very select group of NFL owners beyond their wildest dreams. Sorry Art, but the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton honors success and innovation on the field of play, and true success is something Modell knows nothing about. Fortunately in 2010, Modell has not made the list of finalists for induction into the Hall of Fame and if the Canton Hall is to retain it's credibility, he must NEVER enter. For the full story of Modell's betrayal of Cleveland click on this link to another fantastic Browns blog, Dawgs by Nature
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