[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 160 (Monday, October 22, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING ARTHUR (ART) B. MODELL

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 22, 2007

  Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Madam Speaker, I rise before you today to honor 
Arthur (Art) B. Modell, longtime franchise owner in the National 
Football League (NFL) and humanitarian. Art Modell was born on June 23, 
1925, in Brooklyn, New York. His father died when he was 15, and Art 
dropped out of high school to work and help support his family. He 
completed high school by attending night classes and later joined the 
Air Force and fought in World War II. After the war, Art built a 
successful career in advertising and television production in New York 
City.
  In 1961, he purchased the Cleveland Browns, a National Football 
League team. Modell was not a traditional owner in the National 
Football League. He believed that the owner should play an active role 
in the everyday affairs of the team. Modell succeeded in creating a 
strong team. The team won the NFL championship in 1964 and four 
division titles between 1965 and 1969.
  At the end of the 1995 season, Modell surprised the city of Cleveland 
and excited fans in Maryland when he moved his team to Baltimore, 
Maryland. The city of Cleveland retained the rights to the Browns' 
name, and Modell renamed his organization the Baltimore Ravens. The 
move brought an NFL team back to Baltimore for the first time in 12 
years since the Colts left for Indianapolis in the middle of the night, 
and in 2000, a Super Bowl victory for the Ravens. During his 46 years 
in the NFL, Art was the leader of the NFL's television negotiations and 
was an early advocate of the league's revenue sharing policy.
  Art Modell is almost as famous for his humanitarian contributions off 
the football field as he is for his role on the field. Art and his 
family have made donations to Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore 
Symphony Orchestra, Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore Museum of Art, House 
of Ruth, Hospice of Baltimore, Ed Block Courage House at St. Vincent's 
and the recent restoration of the Basilica of the Assumption, all in 
Baltimore and surrounding areas. He currently chairs a $100 million 
fund drive that will help build a new cardiovascular tower for the 
Heart Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and with his wife Pat 
contributed $10 million to the project themselves.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that you join with me today to honor Arthur 
(Art) B. Modell. His legacy as a pioneer in the National Football 
League and his lifetime devotion to the sport of professional football 
are matched only by his support of humanitarian and community 
foundations. It is with great pride that I congratulate Art Modell on 
his stellar and exemplary career in professional sports in the United 
States of America.




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