08-15-2015, 11:22 AM
The city of Cleveland was primed to sue the league over Modell's move, so the league cut a deal to avoid that. The deal stated that Cleveland would receive a replacement franchise that retained the history of the team while Modell's team relinquished both the name and the history. It was an arbitrary move, but one within the league's power to make. What they essentially did was to temporarily suspend the Browns franchise and release all of their personnel, and even the owners, from any connection to 'The Browns'. Those people were then free to form what was essentially a ready-made expansion franchise, which became the Ravens. When the Browns franchise was reinstated, they populated it with new personnel, but it was, historically, the old Browns franchise.
That may not be the way some of you want to think about it, but it's what the league did, and it's reality.
That may not be the way some of you want to think about it, but it's what the league did, and it's reality.
