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The Return of an Institution
Here's a little known story of the return of the Browns in 1999:
After owner Art
Modell announced the move
to Baltimore in 1995, politicians, business owners, and fans took
on Modell and the NFL. A well-organized effort was formed to keep the Browns
in Cleveland and block the impending move to Baltimore. The city sued the Browns
and the NFL in this attempt, saying that the team was bound by it's contract
with Cleveland Stadium through the 1999 season. While the case was being deliberated,
Art Modell expressed to his staff that the Browns would be moving anyway. Modell
said that the team headquarters were already established in Baltimore, and if
the courts managed to make his team play in Cleveland for the duration of the
contract, then the team would practice in Baltimore, fly to Cleveland on game
day, and fly back out that night. Then when the contract was fulfilled, the
team would move to Baltimore anyway.
Many Clevelanders were never aware of this information, so they continued the
fight to keep their beloved team. The city was hopeful that if they could get
the team to stay for 4 more years, and the stadium was renovated, then maybe
Modell would change his mind. This wasn't to be, however. Cleveland lost their
court case, as well as an appeal to Congress. It didn't matter though, as the
city and the fans continued to fight the NFL.
The league finally conceded to this effort, and they granted the team colors,
heritage, and history to the city of Cleveland in the form of a trust. They
also guaranteed the city another NFL franchise by the end of the century, provided
a new stadium was built.
Well, now the city all of a sudden had money to tear down the old Lady by the
Lake and build up a bran new stadium. (Editor's note - I still have a brick
from the old stadium).
Once this new stadium was on its way, the NFL began seeking a new ownership
group for the Browns. Many applications were put in, and the eventual winner
was Alfred Lerner.
Lerner had won over the city with his ties to hometown hero Bernie Kosar, and
had won over the NFL with his $530 Million. Lerner, along with team president
Carmen Policy, began to reform the Browns, hiring a coach (Chris
Palmer) and putting together a roster.
This made Lerner a hero in Cleveland. But it turns out that Mr. Lerner may not
have been dealing on the level after all. If you read my column about the Browns
move to Baltimore, you know that Modell's relations with the city of Cleveland
had deteriorated in the 1980's. What you don't know is that part of the reason
that this occurred was that Al Lerner had made a secret offer to Modell to buy
the Browns in the '80's. Modell, not wanting to sell the team, refused. Well,
Al Lerner, who had good relations with Cleveland Mayor Michael White, called
his buddy. They then had a meeting, in which Lerner expressed that he thought
that Modell may not be the best thing for the city. White, who may have been
influenced by this, refused to work with Modell in the future, which ultimately
led to the Baltimore move.
That's not where the story ends, though. When Modell decided to move the team
in 1995, his friend Al Lerner was there to support his decision. Modell even
made the press conference in Baltimore, right outside of the plane he flew there
in (which, incidentally, belonged to Lerner). It seems as though the city had
no money to give Modell, even for stadium renovations, but when Modell moved,
there was all of a sudden enough money not only to renovate, but to tear down
the old one and replace it with a new one. Lerner supported the move because
he had enough money to pay the NFL for a new team, he knew he had the support
of the Mayor, and he knew that if he got Berine Kosar in on it, the fans would
support him too.
Meanwhile, Art Modell was so vilified, that he couldn't even attend Lou Groza's
funeral, or Ozzie Newsome's induction ceremony at the Hall of Fame. (Editor's
Note: I'm not saying that I'm in love with Art Modell, simply stating that he
felt his life was threatened).
The end result looked fantastic for Browns fans. Not only did they get the bran
new stadium they desired, but they also got rid of Art Modell for good. But
if you scratch the surface, it may not be so appealing. With the new stadium
comes Personal Seating Licenses. This pretty much takes the blue collar fan
out of the stadium. The team went on to commercialize the Dawg Pound. Now, it
may be just me, but the thing that was so special about the Dawg Pound was that
it was formed by players and continued by fans. Now, though, it's just another
gimmick created by a front office. And, though I hate to admit it, the magic
(at least for this fan) hasn't come back yet. They just don't seem like the
Browns to me. I sincerely hope that the feeling will come back when they start
winning, but as it stands right now, Bernie, Otto, the Toe, Hanford, and the
Kardiac Kids all played on a different team than Couch and Courtney.
FDM
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