Cleveland Browns to hold tribute to former owner Art Modell at Sunday's game

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Browns plan to hold a tribute to former owner Art Modell at Sunday's game, the team said Friday.

Modell died Thursday at 87 in Baltimore, Md.

Many speculated Thursday that the Browns would not do anything at the game, due to the potential of backlash from fans still angry about Modell moving the team to Baltimore in the mid 1990s.

And the release of this one-line statement Thursday about Modell from the Browns seemed to confirm that speculation: "The Cleveland Browns would like to extend their deepest condolences to the entire Modell family."

But the team said there will be some sort of recognition for Modell Sunday. The Browns did not provide any details of what that will be, though.

NewsChannel5 posed the question on Facebook of how people in northeast Ohio thought the fans would treat such a tribute to the former owner, and the answers were not necessarily surprising.

Julie Dye wrote:
"Like children of course, and they will embarrass Cleveland yet again! NO CLASS :("

Ruth Lefelhoc commented:
"This is a VERY bad idea."

And Ron Dodson wrote:
"Who cares how they behave? Their ticket price doesn't mandate how they should observe any tribute. If I was there, I'd stand up and turn my back to the field in remembrance of how he turned his back on the city."

The post on our Facebook page has already received 200 comments.

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