Antawn Jamison vs David West: Which Side Are You On?
January 13, 2010Ex-Browns in the News
January 13, 2010While I like to think that we have our ear to the ground when it comes to news about our Cleveland Browns, there are admittedly times when certain things slip through the cracks. And this, my friends, is one of those things.
Art Model has been omitted from the list of 15 “modern-era” finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2010 class.
The Press release can be found over at The OBR’s blog, and some thoughts (that are very similar to the sentiments felt here at WFNY) are over at No Logo Needed. After making the ballot in 2001, Model’s name hasn’t been seen among the semi-finalists since. While he was the owner of one of the most storied franchises in the NFL and had a large part in setting up the first collective bargaining agreement, he is the same man that forced Jim Brown to the suite level, Paul Brown to Cincinnatti and the Browns of old to Baltimore.
The fact that the Hall of Fame is in Canton, Ohio makes things that much worse. It is hard to imagine that anyone in this state would want Model’s bust to be permanently placed just a short trip down I-77 from the Browns Stadium. Thankfully, with each passing year, this seems less and less likely.
32 Comments
HONK!
It’s I-77, not SR-77.
Not sure how I feel about it. I hate the man, but should he really not be there? The NFL can’t exclude him because he’s a bad person, because they let him do it. I’d be interested to hear what the grounds are?
Ugh. This just made my day.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!
P.S. I hope the devil makes a new layer of Hell just for him to rot in…now back to your regularly scheduled broadcast.
I wouldn’t want to see his bust down Interstate 77 either.
@2 – it’s not the NFL’s decision. the HOF committee is completely comprised of media members.
here is the list:
http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/selectionprocess.aspx
Fantastic news! That POS should not be honored in any fashion.
Art who? I won’t forgive him until the Browns win a Super Bowl… and even then… it’s a maybe.
I will never forgive Modell, no matter how many Super Bowls the New Browns win.
If he gets in, I’m making the trip to Canton to boo him (or to boo little David, if Art kicks it by that time).
There aren’t a ton of owners in the HOF. Even if you look past all the negatives about Modell, I just don’t see what he has done (as an owner) to deserve being inducted. What is it: one super bowl win and one championship win? I mean, just to play devil’s advocate here, what was the case for him to make the ballot in 2001? Even if I loved the guy, I’d say his chances were a long shot.
I second that Lloyd. I hope Modell dies knowing he never made it into the HOF. He’s a scumbag and I wouldn’t @#$% on him if he were on fire.
At the time, Modell said he was financially strapped and was afraid he would have to sell the team. So he “had no choice” but to move. But then five years later, he had to sell the team anyway. So he’s not just evil and selfish, he’s also stupid.
Can you imagine what a Modell induction ceremony would be like? It wouldn’t be pretty, with all the booing, chanting, and hooliganism. And it wouldn’t be fair to whoever else was being inducted that day. And they would have to post a guard by his bust to try and keep the locals from spitting on it or worse. I’m sure the Hall never wants to see this clown inducted.
@12: no one would consider him but for his early league-wide role. The national TV contract and revenue sharing he envisioned set up maybe the healthiest of all professional sports from a fans point of view, the closest thing to a meritocracy regardless of market size. His ownership of the Browns was a zero. Except for the fact that it was his idea to draft Michael Dean Perry, or so he always said.
“What is it: one super bowl win and one championship win?”
– Set up the first CBA
– Helped facilitate the beginning of Monday Night Football
– Facilitated the first prime time Thanksgiving game
– Only elected NFL President
– NFL-AFL Merger committee member
– Played a major role in the creation of “NFL Films”
– Hired the first black GM in NFL history
Ehh… Put ‘im in. Send ‘im to Canton to make a speech. Then let ‘im just TRY to get out of NE Ohio with his life.
Modell gets a lot of grief for firing Paul Brown, but it was the right thing to do. From 1958 through 1962, the Browns were nothing more than a good second-place team, and the players weren’t happy with Brown’s methods, which had ceased to be innovative. The team became much better under Blanton Collier.
God forbid he ever makes it in, canton is very close and well worth the drive and bail money to make a scene at the induction… i doubt id be alone on that.
I do not want him in, but I believe it will happen, probably the year after his death.
If he is going to be elected at some point, alive or dead, I think it would be better if he was alive. I like to believe that the days and months leading up to it would be miserable for him. The expenditure that the NFL would have to make, to keep fans away from a place for the fans, would be great.
I believe what Chuck in #4 was trying to say, and I second, is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7nelq9_VAQ
Art Modell is all that is soulless and wrong with society.
Living or dead, he’ll never get in. Ever.
i hate him but i do think he gets in via the veterans’ committee.
jerk.
They’ll never induct him while he’s alive, a simple reason. If he was to show up to Canton, Ohio someone would take a shot at him. Then they would have to find a jury who could actually be impartial to the person or persons who murdered Modell, and I don’t think that’s possible in Northeast Ohio.
Just to be clear, I’m not attempting to make a case either way. Just discussing the points.
OK. I can see his contributions to the NFL media: the NFL’s involvement with television, networks, its own network, and NFL films. I can see how his fingerprint is firmly in that.
Elected NFL President: Seems more of the “odd statics” category than something to add to a HOF argument. Was he facilitating the CBA during this tenure? It’s before my time but I had thought that there was overlap of commissioner and president while he was in that position and the president was basically an empty parliamentary position. Wasn’t it immediately following him that the position ceased to exist? Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Merger: He agreed to put the Browns into the AFC for this, right? Is that the extent of it? I thought the whole thing was a battle between Hunt and Schramm with Rozelle fostering it in after the fact for congress.
Although, I understand the impact, the concept, its relevance to the sport, and it being a critical part of the league is, you’ll never convince me that the CBA is a good thing.
…and I’m sure I’ll get railed for that comment.
Modell in Canton….NEVER!!!
He’s still a loser.
@22. Right on! I just wonder how much pity Art would get if the Ravens were the Baltimore Browns at the moment.
Art and I are still waiting…
HONK! HONK! Can’t, Won’t ever forgive him. This is the GREATEST news!!!!
I can’t even imagine the scene at the HOF if he gets in…dead or alive.
the thing I don’t get is what in the world has Art Modell ever done to justify even the mention of the hall of fame in the same sentence? Breathing and being part of the NFL so long? Hell, Bill Bidwell would get in on that basis. It is a joke anytime I hear even the mention. Loser, pathetic, boorish and just a bad kharma dude whenever you turn over the rock he is hiding under. I mean in the same hall as Johhny Unitas? Same hall as Dick Butkus? Same hall as George Halas? Why on God’s green earht would this subterranean troll ever be considered for such an honor?