DAVID MODELL: NOT A CHIP OFF ART’S BLOCK

Exactly 21 years from when the whole issue was raging, another central piece of the original Browns franchise’s move to Baltimore has died.

David Modell, the son of former Browns owner Art Modell, passed away on Friday of lung cancer. He was 56.

Art Modell died in 2012. Pat Modell, Art’s wife and David’s mother, passed away in 2011.

It was in mid-January 1996, just weeks after the close of the 1995 regular season and 2½ months after Art Modell announced his decision to move the Browns to Baltimore, that Art Modell, the NFL and the City of Cleveland were haggling over what was going to happen with the team. Eventually, of course, the original Browns were allowed to go to Baltimore, where they would adopt the nickname of Ravens, but as part of that, the franchise had to relinquish the Browns’ name, colors and history so they could be used by an expansion team that would begin play in 1999 in a brand-new stadium to be built on the footprint of Cleveland Stadium.

Art Modell, and to a large extent even David Modell, became despised figures in Cleveland and remain so to this day.

In his heyday in Cleveland, Art Modell was known as a clever, giving man with a great sense of humor and the ability to gain the attention of an audience and hold it. His one-liners were classic.

Instead of just being himself, David Modell tried to be like father, cracking jokes and attempting to be the life of the party. It backfired badly, as he came off as boorish and even downright rude.

And unlike Art Modell, David lost his temper in public, making matters even worse in terms of the way in which he was perceived. There is forever the image of him standing on the grass of the practice fields at Browns Headquarters in Berea in 1990 and, while in full sight of the media, poking his finger into the chest of holdout safety Felix Wright screaming, “And not a penny more!,” during their contentious negotiations.

Also unlike Art Modell, David Modell treated the media with utter disdain. He delighted in trying to make media members look bad with some clever rank that came off as being sophomoric.

But we put all that aside right now in light of David Modell’s passing. There will be some Browns fans who will celebrate his passing, and that’s sad. No man should gloat over another man’s demise, lest someone fete your demise down the road.