Art Modell's path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame just got shorter. (thedailybeast.com)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
(Tony Grossi has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors for more than 20 years.)
Seven years after he was rejected as a finalist for the second time, former Browns and Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell is back again as a finalist candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
But there is something unique about the Hall of Fame process this time. And it may give Modell his best chance yet of being immortalized in the Hall just 60 miles south of the city which still regards him as Public Enemy No. 1.
How did Modell become a finalist again?
The Hall of Fame created a special Centennial Class to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the NFL in 2020. The Centennial Class will consist of 15 inductees -- 10 players whose careers ended more than 25 years ago, three league contributors and two coaches.
Modell’s name was among nearly 300 eligible candidates considered by a Blue Ribbon panel appointed by the Hall of Fame.
How is this process different from the ones that rejected Modell before?
Modell was rejected as a finalist in 2002 and 2013 by the regular board of selectors, which meets every year on the day before the Super Bowl. The board of selectors is made up of media members from each of the 32 NFL markets plus 16 at-large media members. Each time Modell failed to get the required votes to advance on the first cut from 15 to 10.
The Hall stepped out of its by-laws to create an unprecedented process for the Centennial Class.
It formed the Blue Ribbon panel to recommend a slate of 15 candidates for the Centennial Class. The panel consists of 25 members. Thirteen of the members are also on the regular board of selectors. The remaining 12 consist of Hall of Famers, coaches, former executives and football historians.
Originally, the Blue Ribbon panel’s recommendation was to be subjected to vote of the regular board of selectors. But the Hall proposed the Centennial Class would only be subjected to vote as a whole slate, rather than individually, as is the normal process for modern-era candidates.
After several members of the regular selection board protested the rule change, the Hall removed the 48-member board from the process and placed the Centennial Class entirely in the hands of the smaller Blue Ribbon panel.
How does this process improve Modell’s chances of induction?
In two ways:
First, the Blue Ribbon panel is more likely to be sympathetic to Modell’s candidacy than the regular selection committee. There is no representation from Cleveland on the panel to argue against Modell from the perspective of the city and market that he left heartbroken when he moved the Browns to Baltimore.
Second, the mathematical odds in the Centennial Class are greater for Modell than in the regular process. The Centennial Class will include three contributors from among 10 finalists. The regular process admits just one or two contributors on an alternating yearly basis.
Who votes on the Blue Ribbon panel?
Besides 13 selected members from the regular selection committee, there are 12 other panelists:
Ernie Accorsi, who was Browns general manager under Modell in the1980s; Bill Belichick, the only active NFL coach who was fired as Browns coach by Modell in 1996; Joel Bussert, former NFL executive and noted historian; Elliott Harrison, NFL Media analyst; Joe Horrigan, retired Hall of Fame vice president and noted historian; Dick LeBeau, Hall of Fame cornerback and retired NFL coach; John Madden, Hall of Fame coach; Ozzie Newsome, Browns Hall of Fame tight end and semi-retired Baltimore Ravens executive vice president who was named Ravens GM by Modell in 2002; Carl Peterson, retired NFL executive; Bill Polian, Hall of Fame executive with three teams; Chris Willis, NFL Films producer and head of research; and Ron Wolf, Hall of Fame executive of the Green Bay Packers and father of Browns assistant GM Eliot Wolf.
Who are the other finalists in the contributor category?
Bud Adams, owner, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans; Ralph Hay, owner, Canton Bulldogs; Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, long-time scout and executive with four NFL teams; Art McNally, long-time NFL official and administrator; Clint Murchison, founder and owner, Dallas Cowboys; Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films; Seymour Siwoff, owner/president, Elias Sports Bureau; Paul Tagliabue, NFL commissioner; George Young, scout and general manager, New York Giants.
When does the vote take place and how is it done?
Sometime in early January, the Blue Ribbon panel will meet in an undetermined location to conduct discussion and then vote to pare the Centennial Class from 38 finalists in the categories of players, contributors and coaches to 15 inductees.
Candidates must receive 80 percent of the total vote of 25 to be elected. That means six no votes would eliminate a candidate.
What would be the repercussions if Modell were elected to the Hall of Fame?
Modell, who died in 2012, would be inducted posthumously in Canton at the 2020 Enshrinement Ceremony on Aug. 8.
If Modell is elected, the Browns would have to decide whether to include him in their Ring of Honor in FirstEnergy Stadium. The Ring of Honor was established in 2010 with a charter induction of the franchise’s 16 Pro Football Hall of Famers. Clay Matthews was named the 17th member of the Ring of Honor this year.
How does the Centennial Class affect Matthews’ candidacy for the Hall of Fame?
They are unrelated. Matthews is still considered a modern era candidate, and must go through through the regular process.
He made it the semifinalist round of 25 for the fourth time. The cutdown to the finalist round of 15 will be announced on Jan. 2. Matthews has never made it past the round of 25. If he does this time, he will vie for a maximum of five spots and go through the regular selection process the day before the Super Bowl.