For the NFL’s 100th season, they created a very special and expanded Hall of Fame class. Up for enshrinement once again as a historical contributor, former Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell was not among the three chosen. Once again, Modell has been unfairly left out of Canton.
However, this denial carries quite a bit of weight and finality to it. With an expanded class and special blue-ribbon voting panel, this was Modell’s best and likely last real chance of making the cut.
Instead of the same voters that had previously held Modell out, the new blue-ribbon panel was made up of coaches, former players, historians and analysts. There was hope the bitterness many former voters had against Modell would be let go and see the former Browns and Ravens owner get a fair shake. But with Modell once again being held out and former league commissioner Paul Tagliabue getting in, it was a slap in the face for Baltimore.
Tagliabue’s greatest achievement comes for expanding the league from 28 franchises to 32. However, it was Modell’s move from Cleveland that really brought the league the Ravens. Tagliabue had publicly been against the idea of Baltimore getting a franchise back after the Colts moved to Indianapolis, famously telling the city to build a museum instead of a new stadium.
Even without the genuine hatred many in Baltimore have towards Tagliabue, there were plenty of reasons to give pause to cementing his legacy in Canton. Let’s not forget Tagliabue’s dismissal concussions in 1994 as a “journalist issue.” Or his role as commissioner during the league’s opioid epidemic that saw the NFL sued for decades of abuse.
Meanwhile, Modell was chief architect of the league’s television expansion. As the chairman of the NFL Television Committee, Modell was a part of establishing “Monday Night Football” and negotiating the early television contracts NFL owners currently rely so heavily upon. There’s also Modell’s role in merging the AFC and NFL as well as negotiating the first collective bargaining agreement. We shouldn’t forget Modell made Ozzie Newsome the first black general manager the sport had ever seen.
While Modell was far from perfect as an owner, his fingerprints are all over the NFL as we know it now. It’s not a stretch to say the league wouldn’t be nearly as prominent if it weren’t for the negotiations and meetings Modell was a huge part of. Yet, it appears as though his move from Cleveland to Baltimore is the only legacy that matters to some while failing to recognize a far more shameful one in Tagliabue.
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