Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren offered his thoughts on the passing of Art Modell on Thursday, remembering the former Browns owner fondly. In comments published by Ohio.com, Holmgren called Modell gregarious and fun, and talked about how he almost came to work for Modell in Baltimore.
Holmgren had left the Green Bay Packers organization and had interviews lined up with the Seattle Seahawks, the Baltimore Ravens and the Philadelphia Eagles. Modell attempted to get Holmgren to come to Baltimore first, but Holmgren ended up in Seattle, where he signed on as head coach. Said Holmgren:
"So I remember saying, ‘We have to contact the other two teams in all fairness.’ I contacted Art and [Philadelphia Eagles owner] Jeffrey Lurie. I remember Art ... every time I saw him after that he’d kind of jab me a little bit. They were doing well. They had built a new stadium in Baltimore and all those kind of things. But that was the situation. Had it worked out a little differently, perhaps he would have been someone that I would have worked for near the end there.
Stick with this StoryStream for more memories of Modell from around the league. For all things Browns, head over to Dawgs by Nature.
