Cleveland Browns: Bill Belichick can get revenge on Art Modell

Art Modell has been denied access into the Hall of Fame for years and now the NFL is trying one more time to get him in. Bill Belichick can help ensure that Modell never gets a yellow jacket.

Being an eight year old Cleveland Browns fan in 1995, it was difficult to wrap my mind around what was going on.

Not understanding city politics or Art Modell’s financial mess, it was hard trying to grasp seeing Modell on TV in Baltimore announcing his move to that city.

We all know the details by now. In a nutshell Modell messed up by not joining the Gateway project, the city messed up by not giving the Browns a stadium deal sooner and then Modell messed up again by not selling his franchise to a local buyer. Bob Costas could not have said it any better:

Stealing NFL football from a generation of fans is an egregious act. And to see him not only fail financially here but to also do it in Baltimore was icing on the cake. Having to sell to Steve Bisciotti in Baltimore when he could have done the same thing in Cleveland a few years earlier was just plain stupid.

Instead of saving face, getting paid handsomely, being beloved locally, and getting enshrined in Canton, Modell decided to throw all of that away.

And here we are, again, facing the possibility that the man who sucker punched the best fans in the NFL may be getting elected into the Hall of Fame.

Credit to Tony Grossi, who for years led the battle of reminding voters exactly what this man did to our community. And it worked. Year after year Modell was repeatedly stonewalled from getting in.

Now the NFL came up with a grand plan of allowing a mass of new Hall of Famers for its 100th season celebration. A 25-member panel that includes Bill Belichick, John Madden, Gil Brandt, Ron Wolf, Bill Polian , and John Clayton among others, will elect 10 seniors, three contributors and two coaches for induction.

For all that Bill Belichick did wrong during his tenure in Cleveland, he will for sure go down as the greatest coach of all time. After watching him on the NFL Networks Top 100, it is clear and evident that he has a fantastic perspective on the history of this game.

Having been there first hand in 1995 and seeing up-close the pain and suffering that he caused this city and region, one must assume that he will pound the table and argue that Art Modell is no Hall of Famer.

Belichick has a real chance of getting back in the good graces of Cleveland fans after decades of never forgiving the man who booted Bernie Kosar out-of-town. He can also get back at the man that fired him upon moving to Baltimore.

Let’s just hope that the rest of the committee listens to him.