Art Modell has been named in the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Centennial Slate Finalists.

He is the man who left Cleveland Browns fans without a team, and for this reason should not be seen as being hailed as one of the greatest of the sport's participants alongside upstanding contributors to the NFL at The Hall of Fame in Canton.

As the owner of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the home of both the Browns and the Cleveland Indians baseball team, he asked the city for funding to improve the stadium after the Indians moved to Jacobs Field.

The city agreed to his request, but Modell said the funding was not enough and moved the Browns franchise to Baltimore in 1996, creating the Baltimore Ravens.

He decided to fire the Browns head coach Bill Belichick just ahead of the move.

Previous misdemeanours included firing the Browns' first coach, Paul Brown.

When the final game was played in Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1995, there were more people outside it protesting the move than inside to witness the final Browns game before deactivation.

The protesters were acknowledged by the NBC commentators at that game. Former NFL head coach Mike Ditka said, "...these are some of the best fans in the NFL. I said that when I came here with my Bears. They (the Cleveland sports fans) don't deserve this. If Modell had any sort of sense of dignity he would have sold the team.