The Colts sneaked out of town because the City of Baltimore had instituted immenent domain proceedings to steal the team. I don't blame Irsay one bit.
Is the the public school spelling?
And Modell announced the Browns move early in order to sabotage the Cleveland City Council vote on renovating Municipal Stadium, because he had already secretly negotiated a deal with Baltimore. He certainly didn’t do it to “soften the blow” or to give Cleveland or the fans fair warning.
This meme that Irsay’s move was somehow more underhanded than Modell’s is getting tiresome. Irsay gave Baltimore and Maryland far more of an opportunity to work with him than Modell gave Cleveland.