WHAT’S BETTER, SPEEDIE IN THE HOF, OR MODELL NOT IN?

By STEVE KING

I wrote the other day that I actually yelped when I saw that former Browns wide receiver Mac Speedie – the great Mac Speedie, as he should be referred to – was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its Centennial Class to celebrate the NFL’s 100th anniversary.

Speedie is so, so deserving of the honor.

But what I didn’t mention – on purpose, for I wanted to make it a separate piece because it really needed to be – is that I yelped just as loudly, and with as much enthusiasm and glee, when I found out that former Browns owner art Modell was denied election to the Hall yet again.

Indeed, it’s hard to figure out what’s better, Speedie getting into the Hall of Fame, or Modell not getting in. Both are so very pleasing.

The people left with the transplanted original Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, who also worked for the franchise in Cleveland – and there are just a few now – become angry when Modell keeps getting shut out, knowing full well that the move for that comes from Cleveland. Modell has impressive Hall credentials otherwise, but the way he lied and moved one of the NFL’s foundational franchises when he didn’t have to, wipes all that good stuff out. That’s just the way it is.

And those of us in the media who were covering the Browns at the time of the move are all in agreement that Modell doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Shame, to be sure, but not the Hall of Fame.

He’s like the guy in “Damn Yankees” who sold his soul to the Devil so his Washington Senators could finally beat the New York Yankees. When Modell swindled his way out of Cleveland to get that sweetheart deal from Baltimore, he bailed himself out of deep financial trouble. But with it, it closed the door on his ever getting into the Hall of Fame. He knew that, and it bothered him greatly to the day he died.

Apart from the move, I liked Modell – I really did, for he treated me well – but I will fight with my last dying breath to make sure he is never enshrined in Canton. It’s the right thing to do.