Mount Rushmore of most hated figures in Cleveland Browns history
By Randy Gurzi
1. Art Modell: Former Cleveland Browns owner
No Mount Rushmore of hated Cleveland Browns figures would be complete without adding Art Modell, one of the most despised men in Northeast Ohio.
Modell purchased the franchise in 1961 for $4 million and quickly frustrated fans. He had a rift with head coach Paul Brown and wound up firing him. And firing a guy who the team is named after rarely gets positive reviews.
Brown then headed to Cincinnati and helped found the Bengals — as a way to stick it to his former boss.
Of course, that was many years ago and eventually, Modell started to gain some respect as Cleveland began to build a competitive team again. But that all went out the window when he moved the team to Baltimore, where they became the Ravens.
In time, the NFL would return the franchise to Cleveland but this came after a lawsuit where the city sued Modell and his franchise. They wound up settling, which kept the history in the city and they were back in 1999 — although they were now a rebuilding team. Baltimore, on the other hand, won a Super Bowl in 2000 and 2012. As for the Browns, they have still never been to the Super Bowl.
Modell sold the Ravens in 2004 and passed away in 2012 at the age of 87. Even with more than a decade gone since he left this earth, there are still those in Cleveland that shudder at the mention of his name.
Not to mention, the Ravens and Bengals both wouldn’t exist if it had not been for Modell.
