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Mike Poplar
Mike Poplar gets a mention in this section because he was the man behind the scenes for the Cleveland Stadium Corperation. This company was owned by Art Modell, and was responsible for the management of Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Poplar was the accountant/treasurer of this company, and he reported directly to Art Modell. For years Poplar guided the Stadium to near profit bottom lines, a feat which the city of Cleveland never was able to accomplish.
When the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1995, largely due to the stadium situation, Poplar wasn't invited to come along, and, like many in the organization, lost his job. By the mid '90's, Poplar rarely talked to Modell, as his go between became Modell's mis-guided assistant Jim Bailey. Baily shielded Modell from many of the problems the Browns and StadiumCorp were having, and by the time the light bulb went on in Modell's head, it was too late.
Poplar wrote a book documenting his entire career behind the scenes with the Browns. The book, titled "Fumble! The Browns, Modell and teh Move," is an extremely addictive documentary. It has become a piece of lore in Browns History, and is highly reccomended by this site for every Browns fan.
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