The team just couldn’t go on, and it couldn’t win the way things were. The sale had to happen, but imagine the pain of the decision to leave a business that had been identified with the family for 40 years. The very reason Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore – for family survival and a legacy to pass on to his children and grandchildren – would now be partially invalid. Sure the team was worth more – hundreds of millions of dollars more – but convincing Art to sell out his child (the football team) from his children (John and David) was agonizing and it could only be done by one person: David.
“It was literally like the movie Sophie’s Choice,” Brian Billick told me. “It was like selling a child.”
Assuring Art that his legacy would be safe, and that it was OK within the family ranks, was difficult. But in the end, it worked out for everyone.
HEAR ART MODELL GIVE HIS PUBLIC INTERVIEW TO NESTOR AT THE BARN IN 1997:
Art Modell has peace of mind. David and John Modell should walk from the NFL in 2004 with a huge pile of money from their father’s future estate. Steve Bisciotti will have an NFL franchise.
And on that balmy night in Tampa, they all had the Lombardi Trophy and a piece of NFL lore.
In the end, David Modell may never be fully respected by his detractors. No matter what, he is and will always be the owner’s son.
8
But perhaps there is a lesson to be learned for those who desire greatness and its inherent rewards.
Admittedly, David Modell made plenty of mistakes along the course to the big prize.
He just never made the same mistake twice.
He’s an essential part of the story that’s never really been told, that as he lofted the Lombardi Trophy skyward and stored it next to his bed for safe keeping, he’s not the spoiled rich kid who gravy-trained Dad’s name.
He was a very essential part of making that magical championship year happen.
