NFL Modell's departure evokes ambivalence

The despised former Cleveland Browns owner's involvement in the league is at an end.
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Art Modell isn't going quietly.
Modell never has lacked an opinion or a punch line. He had plenty of both Monday as his 43-year career as a team owner neared its end.
Steve Bisciotti takes full ownership of the Baltimore Ravens on April 8. Modell, honored earlier in the day by the NFL for his contributions to building the league -- although he still is vilified in Cleveland for moving the Browns to Baltimore -- called Monday "the culmination of the final lap."
The man who, along with Pete Rozelle in 1961 and '62, brought about revenue-sharing in the NFL, made a pitch for not abandoning what he called "a must for the league to survive." There is some fear within the NFL that owners such as Dallas' Jerry Jones and Washington's Daniel Snyder will push for different apportioning of merchandising income.
Values have changed
"The ownership values have changed, and maybe not always for the better," Modell said. "New owners need all the money they can get to service their debt. Revenue-sharing led to a series of developments that brought the league to what it is -- the NFL is the benchmark for all [leagues]."
Modell emphasized that franchises like Green Bay and Jacksonville would not be around without equal distribution of television money and merchandising revenue.
"Every team is only as good as it's fellow team," he said. "We are the only place where we build each other up to knock 'em down on Sunday."
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue wondered if the NFL would have had the chance to develop into such a success story without Modell's contributions. He specifically mentioned Modell's role in negotiating television contracts; developing the concept of Monday night football; chairing negotiations on the first collective bargaining agreement with the players' union; and convincing the large market owners to share revenues.
Contributor
"Art has been a tremendous contributor not just as a team owner," Tagliabue said, "but a league president and participant."
That began in 1961, when he bought the Browns from Paul Brown and almost immediately became a power broker in league business. Modell's Browns had their own television network in those days, while nine other NFL teams were on CBS and two were with NBC. By offering to give up that network, which had no restrictions on where it could show Browns games, he helped convince Rams owner Dan Reeves, Giants owner Jack Mara and Bears owner George Halas to participate in pooling funds.
Still, Modell's legacy for many fans will be as the man who took the Browns out of Cleveland. He admitted Monday he did so to avoid losing the franchise.
"Retrospectively, if I didn't move to Baltimore, my family would have gone into bankruptcy," he said. "If you declare [bankruptcy], they strip you of the ballclub. There was no other bottom line; I was compelled to move this thing and then sell half of it [to Bisciotti]."