BALTIMORE -- Former Browns owner Art Modell is ready to tell it like it is.

At the age of 80, he said he's finally ready to tell Clevelanders the real reason he moved the beloved Browns football team out of Cleveland to Baltimore.

In the minds of many, that single act was unforgivable, but Modell believes if Clevelanders knew the whole story they might be more understanding.

In a NewsChannel5 exclusive, Modell said he was told to move the team out of Cleveland by two of the most powerful people in the know.

Ted Henry: Cleveland's old Municipal Stadium was a crumbling pile of rubble in the late 1980s and early '90s.

As the Indians were looking at new ownership and a new stadium, the mighty Gateway project was planned. Modell was told by politicians and business people that if he didn't beef about the new Gateway project being planned for the Indians, and if he were patient, eventually he too would be helped.

Modell: "Probably the most significant aspect of my move was the fact that I was told by the power that be, the highest levels of government -- both state, county and city -- if I stay out of the public debate over Gateway, they would take care of the Browns when they got done building something for the Indians."

Henry: Modell said he helped to keep the Indians in Cleveland by taking over the old stadium after the Tribe left it for Gateway. He said it was up to him to modernize the old stadium since the city claimed it had no money.

Modell: "I was willing to take that challenge for the good of the town, the Indians and my team. They said if I stayed out of the debate leading up to the decision to fund Gateway, I'd be taken care of. Never heard a thing about it."

Modell On Loyalty | Discuss: Art Modell | Images

Henry: Modell's anger runs deep for those he felt betrayed him. But many of the city's leaders deny trying intentionally to hurt Modell.

Cleveland Mayor Mike White, County Commissioners Tim Hagan, Mary Boyle and Lee Weingart and the city's most prominent business moguls were preoccupied with the flush of Gateway.

Modell said he and the Browns were ignored as Cleveland's blossoming renaissance exploded.

Modell: "I don't know what their idea was, but I construed it as I would get the same treatment as the Indians or the Cavaliers. The city pumped in hundreds of millions of dollars into the science center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, good bonafide projects. I have no complaint. But ignored us completely. Maybe they took me for granted I don't know, but it was not an easy decision to move at all."

Henry: That Modell might seriously move his team was unthinkable by everyone -- but Modell. He talked of a huge cash flow problem and he boldly asked for help.

Modell: "It tortured me leading up to the time I actually made the announcement. I could not stay I would be in bankruptcy in 60 days if I did stay. Pure and simple without naming names, I'm not going to get into he said this, he said this, but suffice to say at the highest levels of government, state, county and city, I was told 'you'll be taken care of, don't move, don't move.'"

Henry: But of course he did, much to everyone's shock and surprise.

"Is there anything else that you would like to say to clean up the record over those who think they know Modell, but they're a little bit short of the facts?"

Modell: "I can only summarize it, Ted, by saying I didn't get a fair shake by people who were in a position of giving me a shake, fair or otherwise. I did not get a fair shake. I got the short end of the stick."

Henry: His bitterness aside, to understand Modell better is to know something about his upbringing.

Modell: "I was brought up in the depression. My father died in 1939 when I was 15 years of age. I left high school to help support my mother and my sisters. I went to work, hard work and I've continued to work hard all these years for my family, but that's part of life -- not everyone can have it easy."

Henry: Obviously, life today for the Modells in Baltimore is different. Pat and Art Modell are happy together.

Art's health isn't great, having survived two heart attacks and a stroke, but he still gets around, even though his pace has slowed. It's true, the Modell's money problems are now behind them, but there are still some regrets.

Baltimore has been very good for Art Modell, but maybe his greatest pain here since leaving those dark days in Cleveland is the fact that he's never been able to share any of his successes in football with his father.

Modell: "Well, I was determined to be successful because of the adversity I experienced in the '30s. I watched my father leave home. I called it the death of a salesman."

Henry: "Tough times?"

Modell: "You didn't want to go there. Still don't."

Henry: "Tell me about your dad."

Modell: "Not now. Save it. Great man."

Henry: "You learned from him?"

Modell: "Oh yeah. Great man. I loved him. He was my pal. Nobody like him."

Henry: Moving the Browns out of Cleveland was one of Modell's toughest decisions in life. But making that decision much easier was the encouragement he received to go ahead and move the team from two high ranking officials -- one from the sports world, the other from politics.

Tonight on NewsChannel5 at 11, Modell takes us closer to identifying those two people and the reasons why they told him to go.