Saturday, January 27, 2001
Ex-Browns say Modell had to move
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TAMPA, Fla. — Two play on the defensive line, one on special teams. Together, these three Baltimore Ravens have a unique relationship on this most cohesive of rosters.
Defensive linemen Rob Burnett and Larry Webster and kicker Matt Stover are the only players with the Super Bowl Ravens who moved with owner Art Modell from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1996.
They are the ex-Browns.
“We do have a special bond because of the things we went through that (final) year, a 4-12 record, just knowing that last game was going to come and we were going to leave,” Webster said.
Webster played just one season in Cleveland, 1995, signing that spring as a free agent from the Miami Dolphins.
“When the announcement was made, everything went black in the stadium. The only thing you'd see lit up in the stadium was the scoreboard as far as advertising,” said Webster, a backup on the defensive line. “It was hard on the guys. We had to up and move our families.”
The move to Baltimore was a homecoming for Webster, a Maryland native and University of Maryland player. He'll never forget the last game in old Cleveland Stadium, a 26-10 victory Dec.17, 1995, over the Bengals. But sorrow hung thick in the air.
“I could see the sadness in the people around me,” Webster said.
Burnett is the senior member of the Ravens in terms of his continuous service to owner Art Modell. Now 33, the 11-year veteran was the Browns' fifth-round draft choice in 1990 from Syracuse.
“I don't think people in Cleveland understand what Mr. Modell had to do business-wise, and they blame him,” Burnett said. “But it wasn't really his fault. The people of Cleveland need to let the anger go and embrace this club as one of the teams in the AFC Central and support us.”
He remembers the fans of Cleveland and their unconditional support of the team. Fans in Baltimore have just now, in the Super Bowl season, matched the enthusiasm of Cleveland fans.
“I think they are as good now as the people were in Cleveland,” said Burnett, who made the Pro Bowl in 1994. “When we first got here, they didn't know how to take us. ... You'd look into the stands when we first got here, and people were on their cell phones, people just talking and not watching the game.
“Now they're in the game 100 percent, and that's our 12th man.”
Stover signed with the old Browns before the 1991 season, after spending his rookie season on injured reserve with the New York Giants.
“I'm sure the decision to leave Cleveland was the toughest thing Art Modell ever had to do,” Stover said. “Now Cleveland has a new stadium. ... That never would have happened if we were still playing there. We would have had to play in Columbus, which would have been a nightmare.
“Now they have a billionaire owner and a team that's going to be winners with Dwight Clark and Carmen Policy running the organization.”
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Ex-Browns say Modell had to move
