From The Plain Dealer---
Over the years, Lerner entered into partnerships with several Greater Cleveland businessmen, including former Browns owner Art Modell. The two formed a business partnership in radio stations in 1976.
In 1986, Modell needed money to help resolve a legal conflict with minority team owner Robert Gries. Modell had tried to force the team to buy his debt-ridden Stadium Corp., the company that operated Cleveland Municipal Stadium under a lease with the city. Gries objected and won. To help alleviate Modell's mounting financial problems, Lerner bought 5 percent of the Browns and one-half of Stadium Corp.
He continued doing favors for his friend. When Modell wanted to look into the possibility of moving the Browns to Baltimore, Lerner, who chaired Town & Country Trust, which owns and operates thousands of apartments in the Baltimore area, introduced Modell to his influential Maryland contacts.
Lerner's corporate jet, parked at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, became the site of the contract signing in July 1995 that closed the deal that would take professional football out of Cleveland for three years.
Modell was vilified locally and nationally as Cleveland's No. 1 civic villain. Critics deemed Lerner guilty by association. The fallout from helping Modell drove Lerner to hire a bodyguard and install bullet-proof glass in his car.
Lerner explained his involvement as that of helping a friend on the verge of bankruptcy.
"Was I involved? Yeah, I was. Was it for the right reasons? I thought so," Lerner said later. "I don't feel guilty. I feel stupid, but I don't feel guilty."
Shortly after Modell's move became public, Lerner got involved in back-channel discussions with NFL officials and former Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White about bringing a replacement team to Cleveland to fill the void of the Browns. Those discussions led to an unprecedented agreement in February 1996 with the NFL and Cleveland that guaranteed a future team and construction loans, if a new stadium were built.
Lerner was hand-picked by White to lead the sale of luxury seats in the new stadium. The show of corporate support enabled the city to receive a construction advance of $54 million from the NFL.
When the league announced in March 1998 that the new Browns franchise would come from expansion rather than from another team's relocation, Lerner kept a low profile and insisted he was not a candidate to own the team.
He changed his mind when Youngstown native Carmen Policy resigned as president of the San Francisco 49ers and joined him in a two-man partnership. The announcement of Lerner's bid on July 23, 1998, included endorsements from White and former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar, who had backed another businessman's bid and also was contemplating his own.
In his nod to Lerner, White said, "If Al Lerner is guilty of anything, he is guilty of staying with a friend who was having a problem. He is not guilty of selling out this community. Quite frankly, I found it refreshing to see a man who didn't cut and run when a friend was in trouble."
The credit card mogul was awarded ownership of the new Browns on Sept. 8, 1998. His bid of $530 million at the time was a record for a professional sports franchise. The purchase price included the repayment of $54 million in NFL loans. Lerner later spent more than $12 million to renovate the field, add some luxury suites and install two escalators to the upper deck at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
His relationship with Modell was never the same after Modell fled to Baltimore. In August 1997, Lerner sold what had grown to become a 9 percent share in the previous Browns team, now the Baltimore Ravens, and 50 percent stake in its stadium operating company to Modell for $32 million.
In NFL boardrooms, Modell fought Lerner's effort to buy the new Browns, but later acquiesced and joined other NFL owners in approving Lerner's bid in a unanimous vote.
Until his involvement in the departure of the old Browns and the arrival of the new team, Lerner was relatively unknown to sports fans. He opened the announcement of his ownership candidacy by saying, "This is my first and hopefully last news conference for the rest of my life."
