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Bob Costas' Halftime Essay on Art Modell and Halftime Notes

By April MacIntyre Sep 10, 2012, 3:14 GMT

Bob Costas - © Emiley Schweich / PR Photos

NBC fired over Bob Costas' Halftime Essay on Art Modell and Halftime Notes.
 
From Costas:

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL HALFTIME

Dungy on the first half: “John Fox is a defensive coach and likes the running game and all that, but don’t wait 20 minutes to let Peyton be Peyton. That no huddle, that high-energy, fast-paced, that’s Peyton Manning. You’re going to score points, if you let him do that.”

Dungy on Redskins QB Robert Griffin III: “Griffin is smart, he’s mobile and he’s got a strong arm. The same qualities John Elway had as a young man. And he’s running the same offense so we’re going to get the same results, a lot of big plays from him.”

Patrick to Harrison on 49ers-Packers: “As you said, Alex Smith outplayed Aaron Rodgers.”

Harrison on 49ers QB Alex Smith: “He looked like the MVP.”

Bob Costas’ Halftime Essay on Art Modell

As you’ve heard, Art Modell, the longtime owner of the Cleveland Browns, and then the Baltimore Ravens, died Thursday at the age of 87. Modell’s rich and impactful life began in Brooklyn, where he grew up. With that background, he no doubt understood the lasting enmity toward Walter O’Malley, the owner who moved Brooklyn’s beloved Dodgers to Los Angeles. Teams – especially certain teams – can get tied up in people’s hearts and in the identity of a city.

The original Cleveland Browns were such a team. With a deep and dramatic history, a devoted fan base, a distinctive character, they were one of the league’s true flagship franchises. So when Modell up and transplanted them to Baltimore, he became his sport’s – and his generation’s – Walter O’Malley. Whatever his justifications, what Modell did to Cleveland far outweighed whatever he had done for it. Long before Lebron James, he was Cleveland’s public enemy #1, persona non grata for the rest of his life, in a town that had once loved him.

That’s a lasting part of Modell’s story, but even if this falls on deaf ears in Cleveland, it’s not the only part because here’s what else is true: For decades, Art Modell was one of the most significant and influential figures in the NFL, a chief architect of the television deals and strategies that made it America’s most popular and profitable sport.

From his earliest days in the league a half century ago, Modell was a progressive on racial issues – his hiring of Ozzie Newsome as the league’s first black GM, only one indication. He was well known for his philanthropy and for his winning way with a story or a joke, and to the end, he was a man who treated players and employees like family.

In truth, there’s a case to be made for Art Modell in the Hall of Fame and if that ever happens, maybe one day, in an ultimate proof of the adage that time heals all wounds, at least some Browns fans will decide that, that all things considered, Art Modell belongs, if not in Cleveland, then in Canton.