Editing Art Modell (section)

==Owner of the Cleveland Browns (1961–1995)==
During the 1940s and 1950s, Modell worked in advertising, public relations, and television production in New York City. In 1960, Modell had heard from someone close to [[Fred "Curly" Morrison]], a former Browns running back who worked as an advertising executive for [[CBS]] television, that the [[Cleveland Browns]] were going to be up for sale.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-09-14 |title=Bitter end: How Art Modell's on-again, off-again love affair with Cleveland finally ground to a halt |url=https://www.cleveland.com/pdextra/2012/09/bitter_end_how_art_modells_on-.html |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref> The two most prominent parties interested in the Browns (which had the Nationwide Insurance Company as the largest Browns shareholder among various Cleveland businessmen such as Dave R. Jones) was a group led by Bill Evans of [[Diamond Alkali]] and the other was a group headlined by a group of Rudy Schaefer of the [[Schaefer Brewing Company]] and various investors to go with Modell. It was noted that head coach [[Paul Brown]], present since the team was founded, was the key last word on any potential sale of the team, as league executives trusted him best about maintaining stability, particularly since Brown was negotiating a contract that would pay him $50,000 for eight years with the new group. At any rate, it was announced in January 1961 that the Modell group would purchase the team for roughly $4 million, with Modell having contributed a portion from his own personal funds and also taking out a loan for several thousands of dollars more. Named as the chairman of the team, he was quoted at the time as having called the team has “my only business and I am going to keep my hands on it.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kroll |first=John |date=2012-09-07 |title=When Art Modell bought the Cleveland Browns: How The Plain Dealer reported it |url=https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2012/09/when_art_modell_bought_the_cle.html |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shuck |first=Barry |date=2023-06-05 |title=The story of how Art Modell became owner of the Browns |url=https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2023/6/5/23741804/the-story-of-how-art-modell-became-owner-of-the-browns |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Dawgs By Nature |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Coughlin|2011|pp=212–213}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-09-06 |title=Art Modell timeline: Controversial Browns owner held team for 34 years |url=https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2012/09/art_modell_timeline_controvers.html |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shuck |first=Barry |date=2023-06-15 |title=The story of how the wedge between Art Modell and Paul Brown began: Part 2 |url=https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2023/6/15/23748019/the-story-of-how-the-wedge-between-art-modell-and-paul-brown-began-part-2 |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Dawgs By Nature |language=en}}</ref>

===Modell & Paul Brown (1961–1963)===
In his first season as owner in [[1961 Cleveland Browns season|1961]], the Browns won the same number of games under him that they had won in [[1960 Cleveland Browns season|1960]]: eight, which was only good enough for third place. Right before the start of the [[1962 Cleveland Browns season|1962]] season, Brown traded away All-Pro [[Bobby Mitchell]] and first-round draft pick [[Leroy Jackson]] for [[Heisman Trophy]] winner [[Ernie Davis]], who had been selected first overall in the [[1962 NFL draft|NFL draft]] by the [[1962 Washington Redskins season|Washington Redskins]] but refused to play for [[George Preston Marshall]] without the knowledge of Modell, as he was told about the trade by Marshall. Modell recalled being told by Marshall that he "better get out of the business if you don't know what's going on in your own franchise." Modell proceeded to chide Brown about the deal made behind his back.<ref name="Gildea">{{Cite news |last=Gildea |first=William |date=2003-12-28 |title=The NFL's Ultimate Work of Art |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2003/12/28/the-nfls-ultimate-work-of-art/edb0997e-89e2-44e2-93a8-72fc7bb66d3a/ |access-date=2024-01-09 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Davis was shortly thereafter diagnosed with terminal [[leukemia]], and some doctors felt that Davis playing football would not exacerbate his condition. He began a conditioning program in preparation to play in the regular season and desired to be a part of the team. Brown and Modell's working relationship was permanently strained after Brown then, against Modell's wishes, continuously refused to play Davis. Davis died the following year without ever playing a snap. By that point, the rift between [[Paul Brown]] and some of his players, such as [[Milt Plum]] and [[Jim Brown]], who openly questioned Brown's coaching methods and demeanor, grew too much to bear. Players took concerns to the new owner Modell, who they could better relate to than the older, more disciplinarian head coach. Three weeks after a season that saw the Browns win seven games and finish in third place again, Modell had made up his mind. Modell fired Brown on January 9, 1963, which happened to occur in the middle of a newspaper strike in Cleveland. When asked about it at the time about his reasoning, he stated that there were two important ones among the "maybe 25 reasons why", which involved his belief that the maximum potential of the team was not being realized and that at least seven players were not willing to come back to the team for 1963 under the same conditions as 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NFL Black Monday: Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown fired by owner Art Modell 60 years ago |url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/pro/browns/2023/01/09/nfl-black-monday-cleveland-browns-coach-fired-paul-brown-art-modell-pro-football-hall-of-fame/69775137007/ |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Akron Beacon Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> He later named Brown's assistant, [[Blanton Collier]], as the new head coach on January 16, 1963.

===Browns win NFL Championship Game (1964)===
After three non-playoff seasons, the 1964 Browns' team would finish 10–3–1 and appear in the  [[1964 NFL season|1964]] NFL Championship Game against a heavily favored [[Don Shula]] coached [[History of the Indianapolis Colts|Baltimore Colts]] team with [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] quarterback [[Johnny Unitas]] as its signal caller. The Browns beat the Colts 27–0 in [[Cleveland Municipal Stadium]]. This particular Browns team consisted of many players initially drafted and acquired by Brown. During the next 30 years in Cleveland, not a single Modell team won the league title, as the Browns would advance to the [[National Football League|NFL]]/[[American Football Conference|AFC]] championship title games six further times in his ownership and lose them all.

===Modell's team promotions===
Using his background in advertising to market the team, Modell showed a flair for promotions, with one popular innovation coming in 1962 by scheduling pro football preseason doubleheaders at [[Cleveland Stadium]]. Modell also became active in NFL leadership, serving as NFL President from {{nfly|1967}} to {{nfly|1969}},<ref name=nwprxy>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=meBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hAEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6169%2C3458753 |work=Toledo Blade |location=(Ohio) |agency=Associated Press |title=Browns' Modell new NFL prexy |date=May 27, 1967 |page=20}}</ref> and using his television connections to help negotiate the league's increasingly lucrative [[NFL on television|television contracts]]. Under his tenure, the NFL Players Association was formally recognized by the owners in 1968 as a representative of the players that (after a brief strike) resulted in the first [[NFL collective bargaining agreement]] being reached.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?page=nfl_labor_history | title=Chronology of NFL labor history since 1968 | date=March 3, 2011 }}</ref>

It was he who agreed to move his team (alongside the [[1970 Baltimore Colts season|Baltimore Colts]] and the [[1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers]]) to the newly formed [[American Football Conference]] as part of the [[AFL–NFL merger]] in {{nfly|1970}}. Modell was willing to provide his team as an opponent for both the first prime time [[NFL on Thanksgiving Day|Thanksgiving]] game in [[1966 Cleveland Browns season|1966]] and the opening ''[[Monday Night Football]]'' broadcast in [[1970 Cleveland Browns season|1970]].<ref name=ginsburg/> He was chairman of the league Television Committee from 1962 to 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-09-07 |title=Art Modell's decision to move Cleveland Browns haunted him for rest of life |url=https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2012/09/art_modell_never_really_recove.html |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref> At the time he joined the committee, the league was negotiating deals for TV at a price of $14 million. By the time of the last deal Modell was involved with in {{nfly|1990}}, the league had made a television deal for $3.6 billion. 
<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2012-sep-06-la-et-ct-art-modell-20120906-story.html | title=Art Modell helped pioneer big TV deals for NFL | website=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=September 6, 2012 }}</ref>

===Community involvement in Cleveland area===

Modell took an active role in Cleveland community life and was a leading fundraiser for charities and various [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] candidates. He married TV [[soap opera]] star [[Patricia Breslin]] in 1969,  having previously been a well-known bachelor and man about town. For many years he was able to disarm newspaper and TV reporters with his quick wit. For example, with regard to the NFL's innovative policy of sharing all network television revenue on an equal basis per team, so that the [[Green Bay Packers]] and [[New York Giants]] each got an equal slice of the revenue, Modell joked that the NFL is run by "a bunch of fat-cat Republicans who vote socialist on football."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/02/02/the-nfl-americas-socialist-utopia/|title=Perspective {{!}} The NFL: America's socialist utopia|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref>

===Player contract battles===
In the offseason after the 1965 season, Jim Brown was in [[England]] for shooting of ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]''. Modell threatened him with fines when it came to the question of missing portions of training camp. Insulted, Brown retired from football in July 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Winegardner |first=Mark |date=2012-09-08 |title=A City's Heartbreak Outlives Its Source |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/sports/football/a-citys-heartbreak-outlives-its-source.html |access-date=2024-01-09 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1967, five [[African American]] members of the Browns involved in a contract dispute refused to report to training camp. Modell eventually traded or released four of the players, with only standout running back [[Leroy Kelly]] staying.  Kelly would go on to "play out his option" but the restrictive nature of free agency in the NFL at the time severely limited his options. Subsequent contract battles included various stars and free agents that did not pan out. In 1977, the Browns drafted a punter in the second round with [[Tom Skladany]]. He happened to have [[Howard Slusher]] as his agent, who was described by Modell as a significant thorn in the side of pro football. When Modell wouldn't budge on the pay for Skladany in the contract discussion, Skladany sat out the whole season.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-27 |title=Throwback Thursday: The time a rookie punter held out for a whole season |url=https://brownswire.usatoday.com/2019/06/27/browns-nfl-draft-throwback-tom-skladany-holdout/ |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Browns Wire |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Chip Banks]], who won the 1982 Defensive Player of the Year honors with the team, went through consecutive contract holdouts (one of which was to try and negotiate a loan forgiven by Modell) and was even considered to be traded for a supplemental draft pick. It eventually resulted in a trade away from Cleveland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chip Banks' agent says the disgruntled Cleveland Browns linebacker |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/05/23/Chip-Banks-agent-says-the-disgruntled-Cleveland-Browns-linebacker/6521485668800/ |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=UPI Archives |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Donahue |first=Ben |date=2021-06-09 |title=The Life and Career of Chip Banks (Complete Story) |url=https://www.brownsnation.com/chip-banks/ |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Browns Nation |language=en-US}}</ref>

By 1990, fan animosity manifested itself with anti-Modell stadium banners that were quickly removed by Cleveland Stadium management, which only inspired fans to decide to get creative by buying planes to fly signs near the stadium or to use steel girders with anti-Modell statements.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=1990-12-17 |title=Modell Gets Heat From Fans |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/17/sports/modell-gets-heat-from-fans.html |access-date=2024-01-09 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In March 1995, the Browns agreed to a five-year, $17-million deal with free-agent wide receiver [[Andre Rison]]. The deal came only after Modell (who labeled him as the biggest star signed by the Browns) had to personally guarantee a $5 million loan for the signing bonus. Modell's statement about needing to take out the loan made Rison believe Modell made him a "scapegoat" and stated that he received anonymous death threats afterwards. One year later, the team cut Rison to make way for newly drafted players such as [[Ray Lewis]] and [[Jonathan Ogden]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Peter |title=Down ... And Out Citing His Crushing Debts, Art Modell is Taking His Brown to Baltimore  |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1995/11/13/downand-out-citing-his-crushing-debts-art-modell-is-taking-his-browns-to-baltimore |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Sports Illustrated Vault {{!}} SI.com |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-11-18 |title=Andre Rison fanned the flames in '95; what does he say now? |url=https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2015/11/andre_rison_1995_cleveland_browns.html |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref>