RIP: Art Modell, Ex-West Palm Beacher, NFL Owner

Posted by Jose Lambiet , September 6, 2012 Print

Former Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell, who died today of natural causes at age 87, was a presence in West Palm Beach through the 1990s.

NFL pioneer Modell and his former Hollywood actress wife Patty, who died last October, were some of the prominent winter residents at Trump Plaza on Flagler Drive.

Old-timers remember the Modells often attended charity function in Palm Beach.

Records show Modell, who became infamous in Cleveland for uprooting the Browns and moving them to Baltimore in 1996, plunked down $1.7 million for a penthouse at the Plaza in 1992.

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The consummate businessman, Modell sold the penthouse to patron of the arts and philanthropist Alex Dreyfoos in May 2000 for a whopping $2.6 million!

Modell was among more than a dozen NFL owners living in the Palm Beach area, including Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Malcolm Glazer, the Buffalo Bills’ Ralph Wilson, New England Patriots honcho Bob Kraft and Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder.

Modell sold his majority share in the Ravens to Jupiter Island part-timer Steve Bisciotti in 2000, months before the team won it’s only Super Bowl.

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