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Art Modell, former Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens owner, not selected for Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020 will not include former Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell.

CLEVELAND — Former Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell was not one of the three contributors selected for The Centennial Class for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Hall of Fame announced Wednesday morning on NFL Network.

Modell was one of 10 finalists in the “Contributors” category, which pays homage to the advances to the game of football made by an individual other than a player or coach. Of those 10 finalists, Steve Sabol (former NFL Films executive), Paul Tagliabue (former NFL commissioner) and George Young (former NFL executive) were selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 and will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio later this summer.

A blue-ribbon panel comprised of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, hall of famers, coaches, football executives and historians of the game narrowed the list of 300 eligible candidates down to the finalists that were selected as part of the Centennial Class of 2020.

The panel met earlier this month to vote on the 15-member “Centennial Slate” that will join the five modern-era honorees as part of the Class of 2020.

Credit: Mark Duncan/AP
Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell answering questions about the NFL strike, during a news conference in Cleveland on September 21, 1982.

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The modern-era finalists will be chosen on “Selection Saturday,” February 1, the day before Super Bowl LIV.

Modell took over ownership of the Browns in 1961 and ran the franchise until 1995, when he moved the team to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Ravens. Following the move to Baltimore, Modell served as owner of the Ravens from 1996 until 2011, when the team was sold to Steve Bisciotti.

While Modell brought a franchise back to Baltimore after the Colts left for Indianapolis, hoisted the Lombardi Trophy after the Ravens’ Super Bowl XXXV victory over the New York Giants in 2001 and was integral in the creation of “Monday Night Football,” he is remembered for his personnel moves, including firing two of the best coaches in football history.

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First, Modell parted ways with Hall of Fame coach/general manager Paul Brown in January of 1963. Brown helped organize the team in 1945, coached the franchise for 17 seasons and won four AAFC (1946-1949) and three NFL championships (1950, 1954-1955) before being dismissed by Modell, and ultimately, settling in Cincinnati and forming the Bengals.

Then, when Modell moved the original Browns to Baltimore following the 1995 season, there reportedly were assurances given that Bill Belichick would be retained as head coach, but that proved not to be the case, as in February of 1996, he was relieved of his duties.

Belichick has gone on to make 10 Super Bowl appearances with six championships as the head coach of the New England Patriots.

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