Parting words Quips, quotes and highlights from Art Modell's final media session at his farewell NFL owners meeting: "I've never said this, but if I didn't move my team to Baltimore, my family would have gone into bankruptcy. ... I wasn't chasing the bucks. I was chasing survival.'' Asked why he didn't just sell the Browns to a local buyer: "I couldn't, not with the stadium situation I had. I was compelled to move this thing. I couldn't sell it with the circumstances surrounding the franchise. We were losing a lot of money. A lot of money.'' On if he will ever return to Cleveland?: "I'm not going to go to Cleveland until it's been mentioned and suggested and printed and heard that I would be welcomed back. I'm not going to do it on my own.'' On who deserves the blame for Cleveland losing the Browns in 1996: "I would say I was lied to, pure and simple. I was lied to by the powers that be, both in the business community and in the political system. I was told if I supported the Gateway development project, they'd get around to me, but once I did, I never heard from them. Suddenly it was, Art who? The business and political system failed the Browns and they failed me.'' On the NFL's place in today's world: "I can't imagine that any time in our lifetime that the NFL will become subservient to any other sport. It has such a hold.'' Asked his immediate plans: "To have lunch in about half-hour. I'm going to be around, I'm going to stay around, and be avail to Steve Bisciotti. He's entitled to all the help I can give him. I'll help in any way possible. I'm going to go to training camp. I intend to be as active as they want me to be active. I'm not going to thrust myself into the scene. This is now Steve Bisciotti's game and he's entitled to all the help I can give him, and I intend to help him become a winner.'' Asked if it was a sad day for him: "Not sad. Mixed. Mixed emotions. A tremendous feeling of gratitude and appreciation for what's been given to me. I've been blessed. The big umpire spared me, and I don't mean Tagliabue, I mean the one up above. He pulled me through one crisis after another.'' On what kind of owner Bisciotti will make: "My instincts are that Steve Bisciotti is going to be an outstanding owner in the NFL. I think he's got a love for the game, he's strong, he's going to be a good one. Trust me on that. That's my call. You'll come back in two years from now and say, 'Gee, Art, you were right, for a change.' '' -- Don Banks, SI.com

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The end of an era in the NFL was saluted Monday when the league bid a fond and formal farewell to Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell, whose 43-year run as the name atop his team's flowchart is down to its last final 10 days or so.

And as Modell took his final bows on the first day of the NFL's annual meeting, before handing the Ravens off to new owner Steve Bisciotti, he weighed in one last time on behalf of the unique practice that he considers his greatest contribution to the league's unparalleled success story: It's decades-long commitment to revenue sharing.

With the 40-year-old NFL Trust agreement set to expire Wednesday, the league is considering whether to renew its governing document regarding the equal sharing of the league's licensing and sponsorship revenues. On Monday, amid the plush surroundings of the The Breakers hotel, Modell and other old-guard owners voiced their strong support for the continuation of the trust, rather than letting owners have more control over the fortunes of their local marketing efforts.

"I think it's imperative that revenue sharing remains a part of this league,'' said Modell, who will turn over control of the Ravens to Bisciotti on April 8, after Bisciotti's four-year stint as a minority owner. "I think it'd be a sad day for this league if we blow this thing by going our own way. There are one or two owners gung ho about going their own way. But revenue sharing led to the collective bargaining agreement. It led to the salary cap. It's made us. It's sustained us.''

The NFL Trust is likely to be renewed this week in the form of a 15-year extension of the "master agreement.'' Last year, each NFL club benefited to the tune of about $4 million from the league's revenue sharing of it sales of jerseys, hats, other NFL-licensed apparel, and corporate sponsorships like Coors and Pepsi. That number pales compared to the roughly $80 million that each club receives annually as part of the league's TV contract, but it's still a significant source of income that helps keep the NFL from experiencing the kind of small-market, large-market discrepancies that plague other professional sports.

But owners such as Dallas' Jerry Jones, Washington's Daniel Snyder and Oakland's Al Davis have consistently sought to gain more control over their local marketing revenues, merchandise sales and sponsorships at the expense of the league's revenue-sharing concept. Modell and other owners believe that's a slippery slope the league shouldn't be trodding on.

"I don't want to sit in judgment on today's [thinking],'' said Modell, whose fellow owners honored him Monday with a proclamation in deference to his long record of service to the league. "Jerry has his own thoughts and Snyder has his own thoughts, and they're entitled to their own thoughts. But it's a short-term approach.

"There's some good quality people inside the league, but the ownership values have changed, maybe not always for the better. The new owners are so saddled with debt from buying their franchises that they need all the revenue they can get to help service the debt. But revenue sharing is a must that has led to a series of developments that have made this league into what it is. And this is a great league. There's nothing like it in the history of professional sports. Nothing. The NFL is the bench mark.''

Modell considers his role in revenue sharing his greatest contribution to the league because in 1962, he helped coax the likes of George Halas, who owned the Chicago Bears, Dan Reeves, who owned the Los Angeles Rams, and Jack Mara, who co-owned the New York Giants, into pooling their TV revenues for the betterment of all teams. Modell purchased the Cleveland Browns in March 1961 for $4 million, and his team was the only one that had its own lucrative independent national TV contract.

"That got us started on revenue sharing, and we couldn't have done it without all the teams,'' Modell said.

Current Giants owner Wellington Mara said he believes the NFL Trust will continue in its traditional form, and that the principle of revenue sharing is worth fighting for in every instance. No matter how small the dollar figure.

"I think [those in favor of more club-level local control of revenues] are wrong,'' Mara said. "I think it's the hallmark of the league that we share everything equally like that. The new owners who have paid a tremendous amount for their franchises and have big debt services, it's a hardship for them. But a league that shares everything equally is what they bought into.

"I don't think it makes a lot of sense to pay a lot of money to buy into something and then in the next breath change what has made it worth a lot of money. I understand some people don't agree with that. I guess because the Giants have been in existence for so long, I don't have that debt service, so it doesn't bother us.''

What does bother Mara is that he's saying goodbye to Modell, one of a dwindling number of his contemporaries. Modell turns 79 in June, had two heart attacks and a stroke in recent years, and has been in essence cutting his ties to the NFL ever since he and Bisciotti struck the deal in 2000 that laid out the transfer of power in Baltimore.

Asked if Monday felt a little bit like the end of an era in the league, Mara said: "More than a little bit. I remember the very first [league] meeting Art came to, he stood up and suggested having preseason doubleheaders. And everyone said, 'Who is this guy?' And within two years, we all wanted to be part of those doubleheaders, so yeah, we'll miss him a whole lot.''

Modell received two warm, standing ovations Monday, one from the league's full body at commissioner Paul Tagliabue's state of the league address, and another at the beginning of an owners-only meeting in mid-morning. At the latter, four different longtime owners stood to speak in honor of their friend and peer: Mara, Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney, Kansas City's Lamar Hunt and Arizona's Bill Bidwill. Tagliabue and Bisciotti also offered words of praise.

Besides the proclamation that he received, Modell also was feted with the showing of a five-minute NFL Films video that touched on the highlights of his long career, which included 28 playoff teams in 43 NFL seasons. Those who were present say he grew teary eyed at the tribute.

"I've really had a four-year [final] lap, but I would say [Monday's] league meeting would be the culmination,'' Modell said. "The final lap. It's been a very rewarding experience. I've enjoyed a 43-year run. It's been great, great for my family, and I've loved every second of it. I was very touched by the things that were said, and the things that were written [Monday].

"To be speechless for me is an incredible thing. This league has been very important to me and my life. I started out as a young kid, and grew up, and the game grew up, and I was able to make my contribution that I hope will be everlasting.''

Through good times and bad, Modell's name has been synonomous with the NFL for more than half of the league's 84-year existence. He'll be remembered by most as the man who moved the Browns from Cleveland. But as his fellow owners acknowledged Monday, his impact on the league extends far beyond the distance between Cleveland and Baltimore.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.