Art Modell - HOF Chances may have gotten better!

[RavenMadness]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...n-dealer-beat/

Tony Grossi no longer covers the Browns as a beat writer, following the accidental publication of a private Twitter message that called Browns owner Randy Lerner “pathetic” and an “irrelevant billionaire.”

IF KARMA WERE A BOOMERANG.... HOPE YOU GET YOURS GROSSI!!!

[HoustonRaven]

He's only one vote.

And I don't think this means he's off the committee either.

[RavenMadness]

He's only one vote.

And I don't think this means he's off the committee either.

Why you gotta go burstin' my bubble.... :(

[mojorob]

This could be big news because he is the one who gets up and cries to the other writers about why Mr.Modell should not be voted in to the HOF. Maybe the other writers will now grow a set and do the right thing. All of us can continue to do our part by sending letters imploring that Mr. Modell be elected in.

[BcRaven]

To me it is laughable that Mr. Art Modell is not in the HOF. It is all political. His decades of ownership and service to the NFL is hard to match. His agreement to send his team (Browns) to the AFC, and stewardship of the TV committee, well you can't put a price tag on his hard work and even handed nature. On a football note, his 1964 Browns won the NFL championship, and his 2000/01 Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. Those who vote against him are hard of heart, and IMO disagree with their own minds on the subject... Bc

[Ravenswintitle]

To me it is laughable that Mr. Art Modell is not in the HOF. It is all political. His decades of ownership and service to the NFL is hard to match. His agreement to send his team (Browns) to the AFC, and stewardship of the TV committee, well you can't put a price tag on his hard work and even handed nature. On a football note, his 1964 Browns won the NFL championship, and his 2000/01 Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. Those who vote against him are hard of heart, and IMO disagree with their own minds on the subject... Bc

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[DarthCorvax]

To me it is laughable that Mr. Art Modell is not in the HOF. It is all political. His decades of ownership and service to the NFL is hard to match. His agreement to send his team (Browns) to the AFC, and stewardship of the TV committee, well you can't put a price tag on his hard work and even handed nature. On a football note, his 1964 Browns won the NFL championship, and his 2000/01 Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. Those who vote against him are hard of heart, and IMO disagree with their own minds on the subject... Bc

You're right about people being hard of heart. It's amazing that people think of him more in the vein of Bob Irsay than say, Al Davis, when clearly his work on behalf of the league and the couple of championships more closely aligns him with the latter and not the former. But to do that, they have to completely dismiss all of his league-centered accomplishments. (Then again, I keep arguing that Modell never helicoptered into another city's stadium to pimp the team or any of the other stuff Irsay did. Doesn't matter. They're still the same, apparently, to many people)

For that reason, even if Grossi somehow gives up his vote, I'm sure the next Cleveland writer will continue the crusade even if Grossi's crusade does seem intensly personal.

[52decleetzu]

He's only one vote.

And I don't think this means he's off the committee either.

He may have only had one voice but when it came to this subject, it was a very LOUD one.

Couldn't have happened to a better guy.

[MarkS]

He's only one vote.

And I don't think this means he's off the committee either.

Unfortunately, it doesn't. Once someone is a committee member, they can only lose their vote by retirement, resignation or death.

"With the exception of the PFWA representative who is appointed for a two-year term, all appointments are of the open-end variety and can be terminated only by retirement or resignation, as long as the member continues to attend meetings regularly."

http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/selectionprocess.aspx

Len Pasquarelli, for example, is still the Atlanta rep, and he hasn't worked in that market for 13 years now.

I guess it's possible that Lerner and/or Grossi's employer, the Plain Dealer, are sufficiently pissed enough to pressure him to resign, but it's still up to him. And can't imagine he'd give up his membership - my impression is that his crusade against Modell is clearly something he takes very personally.

[Greg]

He's only one vote.

And I don't think this means he's off the committee either.

He wasn't just a vote, he was the main campaigner against Modell, giving a "passionate" speech each and every time Modell came up.

I don't know what this means in regard to the HOF voting committee, however.

[Mista T]

If I were one of the other beat writers, I would be looking over my shoulder after this incident. Grossi was a total asshole to set himself up. It wouldn't surprise me that, behind closed doors, Bisciotti may have said to Lerner:"Get this of this douchebag Grossi".

I wish nothing but bad things for Grossi's career: he is an evil person who got his "come-uppance".

I agree that Modell's chances went up with the Grossi incident. That would be great for the Modell family, but I still don't see much Baltimore interest in Modell entering the HOF. His contributions to the league, which were substantial, came as Browns owner. I view Modell entering the HOF as somwhat parallel to Byner being on the Ravens Ring of Honor.

[AntiMoon]

People really don't understand the process: Grossi spoke up years ago. Since then the rest of the committee doesn't feel Modell is even a good enough candidate to be a finalist. That won't change with Grossi gone. And people need to understand that as a beat writer you can't be tweeting your opinion. That's for columnists. Beat writer is supposed to be about facts only. This was not some plan by Bisciotti and Lerner, that's nonsense.