Editing Art Modell (section)

===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>