BillsFever
09-01-2003, 02:26 PM
SI.com: Are you savoring everything about this season or trying to not be too sentimental about your 43rd and final lap as an NFL owner?
AM: Well I've been working up to this moment for some time. I'm not overly sentimental, but I do want to go out on top and I think we have the chance to make some music this year if things don't bounce the wrong way for us.
SI.com: Who is the greatest player to ever play for you?
AM: The greatest player I've ever had, for his ability for sure, but also his durability, is Jim Brown. He was exceptional in every way. He had speed. He had power. He had grace. He had great hands and could catch the ball out of the backfield. He was an extraordinarily gifted athlete.
SI.com: Was the way you handled Jim Brown's 1966 absence from training camp, which led to his retirement announcement, among your biggest regrets?
AM: Yes. I challenged him from 4,000 miles away and I should not have. He had a problem that was not unique in the business of motion pictures, but they had bad weather and couldn't finish the production (of The Dirty Dozen') and he couldn't come back in time. So to maintain discipline in the organization, with my coach at my side, we decided to fine him $100 a day. Today that wouldn't pay for the donuts.
So he resented that. He didn't say much. He just called a press conference in Europe to announce he was retiring. I think we could have gotten another good year that year from him, and maybe one more to follow.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/football/nfl/09/01/modell.first.person/index.html
AM: Well I've been working up to this moment for some time. I'm not overly sentimental, but I do want to go out on top and I think we have the chance to make some music this year if things don't bounce the wrong way for us.
SI.com: Who is the greatest player to ever play for you?
AM: The greatest player I've ever had, for his ability for sure, but also his durability, is Jim Brown. He was exceptional in every way. He had speed. He had power. He had grace. He had great hands and could catch the ball out of the backfield. He was an extraordinarily gifted athlete.
SI.com: Was the way you handled Jim Brown's 1966 absence from training camp, which led to his retirement announcement, among your biggest regrets?
AM: Yes. I challenged him from 4,000 miles away and I should not have. He had a problem that was not unique in the business of motion pictures, but they had bad weather and couldn't finish the production (of The Dirty Dozen') and he couldn't come back in time. So to maintain discipline in the organization, with my coach at my side, we decided to fine him $100 a day. Today that wouldn't pay for the donuts.
So he resented that. He didn't say much. He just called a press conference in Europe to announce he was retiring. I think we could have gotten another good year that year from him, and maybe one more to follow.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/football/nfl/09/01/modell.first.person/index.html