Modell, Shcaffer will keep coach...

Controlling ownership in the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League went to two New York men today in a $4,000,000 deal. Coach Paul Brown received a new 8 year contract and a free hand to operate the team in the same winning way he has since 1946.

One of the New Yorkers, Aurthur B. Modell, a 36 year old advertising and television executive, will be the club's new board chairman and chief executive officer.

His chief associate in the purchase is R. J. Schaefer, 60, a brewery company president. He will serve as the Browns vice president.

A substantial minority interest in the club is retained by Robert H. Gries, Dave R. Jones, and the coach. Jones is president under the new ownership, and Gries is vice president and tresurer. Brown will continue as general manager and vice president, as well as coach.

Negotiations Begun December 10

Modell confirmed that the reported price was "substantially correct" for the transaction, which went into negotiation last Dec. 10 and reached agreement on Jan 26. Brown will be in charge of the squad. He said:

"I retain control over those things I consider essential to the operation of the team"

Bronzed by a long Florida vacation and cured of a trachea infection that bothered him last fall, Brown appeared ready for the 1961 professional football season.

Modell, a native of New York and a football fan "since the age of 7" pledged to devote "99.2 percent of my efforts to the Browns and helping continue production of a winning team in Cleveland." A bachelor, he plans to move here soon.

This is the third ownership of the Browns. The team was organized in 1946 while Brown was in the Navy. Arthur B. (Mickey) McBride from it's first season until June, 1953. He sold it for a reported $600,000.

Silberman a purchaser

Saul Silberman who bought about half of the shares McBride sold, sold his interest in 1955 for $575,000, indicating a value of $1,150,000 for the club that year. Today's sum is the largest such in pro football history.

In fifteen years of professional football in two leagues, the Browns have won 153 games, lost fourty-two, and tied five, winning 4 All-America Football Conference championships and three National League crowns. In that span the Browns have attracted 4,275,399 fans, including 337,952 for six home games last year.