DaytonDailyNews.com

Whenever Art Modell pops into my head, I'm not responsible for what occurs next.

Happened to think about the former Cleveland Browns owner the other day while driving, and my speed zipped from 65 mph to about 80 in a rage-fueled instant.

Had I been pulled over, bet I could have talked my way out of a ticket had the trooper been a Browns fan. Surely he would have sympathized.

In case you don't remember, Modell is the scoundrel who moved the Browns to Baltimore and kept football out of Cleveland (where it was practically invented) for three seasons until the National Football League got an expansion franchise up and running in 1999.

Almost as devastating as the move itself was the loss of long-standing rivalries such as the one the Browns had enjoyed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the renewal of which is Sunday, Sept. 14, in Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Among Browns fans, hatred for the Steelers never dissipated, but it took awhile for anything to develop on the field as some coaches and players needed to be coaxed into assigning this game more significance than others.

Rational or not, I blame Modell for all of this, including the fact that the Browns have lost nine straight to the Steelers.

Modell is back in the news because of the role he played in the life of the late running back Ernie Davis, the subject of a feature film just hitting theaters.

I'd prefer a documentary about how Modell crippled football in Cleveland so he could line his pockets elsewhere. It never should be forgotten.

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