Ron,

Yikes!

Bernie was born on Youngstown, Ohio, according to Wikipedia. So that makes him a Northeastern Ohio product not Northwestern, Ohio.

Are you seriously telling a bunch of Baltimore fans that the moving of the Browns was "despicable"? The city of Cleveland got a sweet deal in which they kept their history with a new stadium (which is the reason Modell moved the team in the first place), but Cleveland fans tend to be bitter because the Ravens won a Super Bowl. Enough. Besides, you write for the Baltimore Sun. Start writing about the Ravens, please.

What Modell did was despicable??

Despicable was the NFL looking the other way when the Colt's left in the middle of the night (someting Modell did NOT do), and then playing us aggainst other expansion cities, making us do a dog and poney show for a decade, when the NFL and Tagliabue KNEW they had no intention of awarding us a franchise.

Then, Modell hasn't been out of Cleveland a month, and the NFL reaches into their butt to invent an expansion team that they never dreamed of awarding before the move, so the poor mistreated whiners in Cleveland could have their team back.

Now, THAT'S despicable.

Sorry, but I am tired of hearing how poorly the fans in Cleveland were treated, but no one seems to remember how WE here in Baltimore were treated by first Irsay, then by the NFL.

BTW, Tags, that's a pretty nice museum we built down on Russell Street, isn't it!

if i was a cleveland fan i would enver forgive modell.

Ron,
Congratulations on finding peace with Modell in your heart and showing a lot more maturity than 90% of northern Ohio.

Of course Modell belongs in the Hall- any one of his major accomplishments would be enough to qualify him for the Hall on it's own- Monday Night Football? That was him. He was also central to the first big television deal, laying the foundation for the unprecedented success and prosperity the league currently enjoys. Show me anyone who would argue that these are not worthy of a place in the Hall and I will show you someone with a sub-80 IQ and supreme lack of perspective. Jerry Jones will someday get in with far less.

I am no fan of owners holding up cities for millions in taxpayer-funded handouts and incentives; I believe the federal government should pass a law that mandates all major sports that are currently given an antitrust waiver (whether explicit or not) cannot use the power the government and taxpayers has granted against them. No more funded stadiums, no more ridiculous tax incentives, when owners like Modell move they are arguing that they own a business and as their property they are free to do whatever they want with it. For this to be right the government must force them to truly operate like a business, rather than some quasi-government funded venture. That would mean either subjecting them to antitrust oversight or removing their ability to hold states and municipalities hostage.

My point is merely to say that Modell moving a team was not an isolated "despicable" act, but rather behaving against the rules that the NFL operated under (and actually seemed to implicitly promote, until the backlash with the Browns. Why no nationwide uproar when the Colts left? Why no immediate promise of a replacement team?). Modell is not to be blamed for this, and in fact compared to other owners who have moved their teams went to far greater effort to keep his team in Cleveland. Based on the facts, I might argue that Modell had no choice but to move, and at least he had the good sense to agree to leave the name, colors and records with the city that would be most attached to them (it doesn't bother me as much anymore to see the Colts logo associated with another team, but it irks the hell out of me that Unitas' records are considered to be with Indy, rather than with Baltimore as the players and fans overwhelmingly would want.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I wanted to write to commend you for coming around in your support of Modell. Those who still do otherwise are placing a personal grudge over the man's actual merit, which is sad both for Modell and ultimately for the protesters themselves. I hope you share your wisdom with anyone you know back in Ohio who is still holding onto this unhealthy grudge.

I'm glad to see that some Cleveland fans are forgiving Modell the way many of us in Baltimore have forgiven the Ursays for moving the Colts. I'm still unclear why many in the national media think what Modell did was despicable, but Ursay moving the Colts under the cloak of darkness was "just business" and we in Baltimore are crybabies. The fans are always the innocent victims when a team moves. It's not fair for outsiders to tell us how to feel.

I will never understand the seemingly irrational hatred for Modell from Cleveland fans. He was a patron saint compared to Robert Irsay, who took the trophies, team colors and made no arrangement for a replacement. Cleveland went w/o football for 3 years ("suspended operations"). We lost a football team, period.

Get ovet it, Baltimore got over the Colts leaving. GO RAVENS!!

Life is too short to spend any time at all in Cleveland.

NO WAY!!!! I think a lot less of Kosar now.

Where were Cleveland fans when Irsay moved the Colts out? I never heard them supporting us getting another team. Model at least did the decent thing. Cleveland still has their Browns and stats, with a two yr gap.I don't know if it would pass court muster, but every major sports league should be forced to leave stats and mascot at the city they are leaving. Give those you leave some dignity for all the support they gave you. I think Modell took the complete high road. We have never identified ourselves with the Browns, and only Colts of yonder years. Indy is a sick organization to try to boast of Johnny U. Modell has never tried to bring old Clevelend players into the mix, only old Baltimore Colts players. Thats why I love our team so much.

sooooo tired of the cleveland crybabies. want to know a hard truth cleveland? art modell moved to baltimore. "the browns" stayed there. you have your history, colors, brand, and penchant for losing intact. the country is laughing at your outrage towards a single man 15 years later and your deafening silence about being a loser franchise. it's pathetic!

it's funny that moving the Browns to Baltimore in 1995 was "dispicable" when not a word was uttered from any sportwriter (other than those FROM Baltimore) when the Colts were moved to Indy in the middle of the night during a snow storm in 1984. Art Model has more class in his toenail than Earsy could have ever thought about.

Neither Kosar nor Modell deserves any special treatment.

What's despicable is how Modell was treated by the city of Cleveland.
Otherwise the man would have never made a business move he was forced to make to save his family business!

The fact we have a Browns fan writing blogs for a Baltimore paper is despicable.

Mr. Fritz-Not allowing Mr. Modell in the NFL HoF is nothing more than being childish and stubborn. Can you or a Cleveland based sportswriter make a mature case of why he should not be inducted into Canton?

HOF? Really? He ran HOF Coach and Innovator of the Modern Game out of town and forced the greatest (arguably) running back in NFL history into an early retirement. He managed two championships as an owner of an NFL franchise for 43 years. He ran The Municipal Stadium like a slumlord. Never making improvements and squeezing ever penny out of it he could. He then moved a team away from one of the league's most loyal fan bases.

Oh, wait, he helped orchestrate some early TV Deals.

HOF?

He should be in the hall of fame, right after Robert Irsay.

Hey Leory - get your facts straight. The NFL FORCED Model to give up the Browns name. He wanted to keep it. Also, Cleveland GAVE the stadium and ALL it's benifits (parking, concessions) to The Stadium Corp - which Art owned - long before it became a "requirment" to have a franchise. The Browns were broke - Art via the Stadium Corp - was the richest man in town.

Unreal how you Raven fans know nothing about Model. Art had a 20 year lease on the Cleveland stadium at a cost of $1 !!! He promised that if the city gave him the Stadium, he would NOT move them. He - not the Browns - pocketed everything related to the stadium, even controlling it AFTER the Browns left. His downfall was that he became a laughing stock amoung the "old gaurd" owners for having never won a Superbowl. So ... had the Browns spend a fortune in signing bonuses for loosers such as Andre Risin. The move to Baltimore was the only way he could get imediate cash for the "Browns" part of his enterprize in order to buy a superbowl before he died. Even then, he wasated more millions on more loosers and had to sell 49% of the Ravens before winning anything.

Sorry about you loosing the Colts - but you clearly don't know the facts about the Browns and what a skieve Model is.

Browns fans can never forgive Modell and shouldn't. He stole our team, our Super Bowl, and then ended up having to sell it anyway. A disgrace. he makes Lebron look good.

If you know how it felt to loose a team why did you steal angother citys team