Clay Matthews is not the only former member of the Browns who is a semifinalist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

There’s another guy – the late Art Modell – being considered, as a contributor. Perhaps you’ve heard of him.

Modell, who owned the original Browns franchise from 1961 until moving it to Baltimore following the 1995 season, did a lot of Hall-worthy things. That may make longtime Browns fans angry, but it’s true.

He was an influential figure in the NFL throughout his time in Cleveland. He was an owner with power and say-so, and he used it for the betterment of the game. That he was also an innovator and willing to shun the status-quo and take a risk only added to the size of the shadow he cast.

He was named president of the NFL in the late 1960s and as such was, essentially, second-in-command to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle.

He and Rozelle worked hand-in-hand to put together game-changing TV deals for the league and its owners, the likes of which had never even been envisioned, let alone become a reality.

He volunteered his Browns to play in the first Monday Night Football game, and provided the use of Cleveland Stadium as the host site, in 1970, and what happened that September night as summer gave way to fall served as a launching pad for the biggest TV series in the history of football.

Just months before that, he persuaded his good friend, Pittsburgh owner Art Rooney Sr. to move his Steelers with the Browns into the newly-created AFC, the former AFL, so the conferences would both have 13 teams. That allowed the NFL-AFL merger to be finalized.

Indeed, without Art Modell, the history of pro football would look considerably different, in a negative way.

Steve King