When I first heard the Cleveland Browns were going to move to Baltimore it was a very bittersweet day. I knew how the fans of Cleveland felt because 11 years before on March 28, 1984 I knew the pain of having a team leave. In the case of the Baltimore Colts, they were stolen in the middle of the night.
I was happy to see the NFL back in Baltimore. The NFL screwed Baltimore during their expansion process. Jack***ville over Baltimore?? What the hell was that idiot commish thinking? Oh wait, I know what he was thinking: let me kiss up to that jerk Jack Kent Cooke. The only NFL owner who had the courage to do the right thing and vote for Baltimore to get the expansion team was Norman Braman, owner of the Phildelphia Eagles. For his efforts, I am very thankful to Mr. Braman.
I'd always thought the day the NFL came back to Baltimore, I would be the happiest guy in the world. But I didn't feel that way. I felt guilty and sad for the Cleveland Browns fans. That would change very quickly. The Browns fans started crying and getting the national media behind them. Sports Illustrated even had a cover with Art Modell sucker punching the Brown's so called mascot, the dog.
Hmm where the hell was SI, when a drunk, jerk bastard stole the Baltimore Colts in the middle of the night back in 1984? They allowed Frank DeFord, a Baltimore native write an awesome ONE PAGE article. That's it. But SI devotes basically an entire issue to the Browns moving.
Now while I'm thankful to Art Modell for bringing the NFL back to Baltimore, I don't like him. He's nothing but a greedy, egomaniac and a terrible businessman. He prooved that when he went to that bastard to buy back the Colts names and color. That bastard said the starting price was $25 million. I've always believed that the $25 million was a sticker price and anybody who has bought a car could have lowered that asking to price to less than $5 million. But Modell, even with all that money given to him, declined.
But more than that he voted against Baltimore in expansion. Part of it was Modell playing company man and going with whatever is best for the NFL. But I also think part of it had to do with allowing keeping the NFL out of Baltimore so that teams could "use" the threat to move to Baltimore, to get either a new stadium or an improved stadium. Which is most insulting. Baltimore provided the NFL the Greatest Game ever played. The greatest QB ever in Johnny Unitas. The greatest OL ever in Jim Parker. The greatest TE ever in John Mackey. Art Donovan. Alan Ameche. Raymond Berry. The NFL repays the city of Baltimore by allowing a drunk, jerk, bastard to own the team? By screwing Baltimore out of an expansion team? By denying the CFL Baltimore COLTS from using that name? Interesting how a couple years after the CFL Baltimore COLTS moved, the Denver Broncos copied the logo of the CFL Baltimore COLTS.
