Must be going soft, never thought I would actually appreciate an NFL owner let alone a Browns owner

Somebody recently wrote that it was wrong for the Browns to keep the team records after Mr. Modell left for Baltimore. I disagree. Keeping the Browns records and history was the right thing to do. The Cleveland fans deserved this history because they were a huge part of it. Their admiration and respect and especially their unwavering expectation that we would win every game was an inspiration that sustained us. We all expected to win. We never had a losing record during my eight year Browns career but we were never satisfied and neither were our fans until we won it all.

I am not sure I can explain it fully. Art Modell owned an NFL franchise but, in my mind, he was never a Cleveland Brown. Art hated Paul Brown and Paul hated Art from day one; I can personally attest to that. Paul and Art deserved each other. Paul was a great organizer and brought a business approach to the game that shaped pro-football, (having Otto, Dante, Marion, Gain, Lahr and other great players helped some too) Paul deserved his reputation but he wanted us the players to protect it rather than to build our own by winning our own championships. On the other hand Art seemed to always be back there, maneuvering for Art. To my surprise Art won a World Championship in Baltimore. I congratulate him for it. But Art is a Baltimore Raven never really a Cleveland Brown. We won in spite of Art not because of his brilliant managerial efforts. Be all that as it may the Browns are a part of Cleveland and that will never change. The torch has been passed to a young man with a good heart.
When ask if he would be leaving the Browns since the sale of the MBNA Bank, today’s Browns owner Randy Lerner told the Akron Beacon Journal, that… The sale of MBNA will have no effect on his ownership of the Browns.
Lerner described his role as chairman of MBNA as ``a formal, custodial role based on the way my father wanted it handled.''
He said his ownership of the Browns is ``a privilege and an honor.''
``I don't connect them in any way, and I hope others don't make the connection either,'' Lerner said. He added that owning the Browns means that he owns ``the single greatest asset on the planet Earth.''
``The Cleveland Browns are a privately owned asset that I consider a privilege and an honor to manage.''
He said he envisioned owning the team for a long time.
``As far as I'm concerned, for our lifetime, yes,'' Randy Lerner said.
With this type of dedication, commitment the Championship Browns will rise again.
My teammates and I owe Randy Lerner a huge debt of gratitude for reuniting our 1964 Browns World Championship team. He was also responsible for awarding us a Championship Trophy forty years after the victory. Rumor among the players was that the original trophy had the Baltimore Colts names already engraved on it before the game.
Thanks Randy, we the ’64 Browns do appreciate what you have done for us and we are extremely pleased that you are the owner of our Cleveland Browns. We will always be Cleveland Browns.