INSIDE THE NFL
Modell's Justification
After nearly two years, Ravens' owner still angry
by Peter King
Posted: Wed October 1, 1997
Nineteen months in Baltimore haven't mellowed Art Modell. Nor
have they given him any reason to think he's at fault for moving
one of the most beloved teams in sports. As he sat on a golf
cart and watched his Ravens practice last week, the
controversial owner defiantly defended his decision to move out
of Cleveland.
"I'm the only owner in the history of professional sports who
moved but left the team intact—the nickname, the colors, the
franchise," said Modell, who generally avoids discussing the
matter. "I moved my players and two jockstraps. That's it."
He remains convinced that he never could have gotten the stadium
deal that the new Browns, who are expected to begin play in
1999, received. "When I said I wanted stadium improvements," he
said, "the columnists blistered me. I was called a shakedown
artist. The politicians would have never given me a great
stadium deal. I'd never have gotten anything unless I went
through hell to get it."
True, had Modell persuaded Cleveland politicians that he was
serious about negotiating with Maryland interests and as a
result won the concessions that would have kept him in
Cleveland, he would have gotten the rap of a shakedown artist.
He also would have had a new or refurbished stadium in the city
he still so clearly loves.
Issue date: October 6, 1997
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