Legendary National Football League running back Jim Brown has died. He was 87.
In addition to his brilliance on the football field in college at Syracuse University and in the professional ranks with the Cleveland Browns, Brown was also an accomplished actor and outspoken activist in his post-football career.
Jim Brown’s professional football career lasted only nine seasons and he retired in 1966, but his name is still on the short list of greatest players ever to play in the National Football League. Many still consider him the best ever.
…he was in the middle of filming the movie “The Dirty Dozen” when production ran late and conflicted with the Browns’ upcoming training camp. Browns owner Art Modell threatened to suspend Brown without pay if he didn’t show up to camp on time. Brown chose to retire to concentrate on his acting career as well as his social activism.
Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He was also selected to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. He was also ranked as the No. 1 All-Time player of the College Football 150 list in 2020.
Brown was also considered by many as the greatest lacrosse player ever. He was an All-American performer at Syracuse in that sport as well. He also lettered in basketball and track and field at Syracuse.
A bruising running back at 6’2 and 230 pounds, Brown was an athlete that was well ahead of his time. He had the rare combination of size, great speed and power, which made him a dominant and intimidating player in the NFL. He was a star from the beginning of his career as he was the NFL’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in 1957. He led the Browns to the NFL championship in 1964.
In his nine seasons with Cleveland, Brown rushed for 12,312 yards, which was a league record at the time of his retirement. His 106 career touchdowns was also a NFL record at the time. Brown was selected as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1957, 1958, 1963 and 1965. He was selected to the Pro Bowl nine times and the All-Pro First Team eight times. He led the NFL in rushing eight times and in touchdowns five times.
Brown was 30 years old and in the prime of his career with the Cleveland Browns when he retired in 1966. His acting career had taken off and he was in the middle of filming the movie “The Dirty Dozen” when production ran late and conflicted with the Browns’ upcoming training camp. Browns owner Art Modell threatened to suspend Brown without pay if he didn’t show up to camp on time. Brown chose to retire to concentrate on his acting career as well as his social activism. And just like that, one of the best players in the history of the NFL would never set foot on a football field again.
Along with famous professional athletes such as Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics, Brown was a central figure in the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1960s. In 1967, Brown organized the Cleveland Summit a.k.a. the “Ali Summit” which was a meeting featuring several prominent African-American pro athletes who joined together to support Muhammad Ali, who has decided not to serve in the Vietnam War. The photo, which featured Brown, Ali, Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the most iconic photos in the history of sports.
Brown also spent decades working to curb gang violence in Los Angeles through his mentoring and host summits. He founded Amer-I-Can, a program to help disadvantaged inner-city youths and ex-convicts.
