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James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown (born February 17, 1936)[1] is a retired American professional football player who also made his mark as an actor and social activist. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. He is acclaimed as one of the best running backs of all time, and was named by The Sporting News as the greatest player ever in 2002. Sportswriter Bert Randolph Sugar named Brown #1 in his book The Greatest Athletes of All Time.

Biography

Early years

Born in St. Simons, Georgia, Brown's parents divorced when he was a toddler. He later moved to Long Island in the 1940s to live with his mother, who at the time was working as a housekeeper for wealthy homeowners. At Manhasset High School, Brown earned 13 letters playing football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, while also running track.

Despite his many talents, Brown was unable to obtain an athletic scholarship until a local benefactor, Kenneth Molloy, paid for his first year at Syracuse University. By the time he was finished at the school in 1957, Brown earned not only a scholarship, but All-American recognition in both football and lacrosse.

Professional career

When the Cleveland Browns drafted Brown in late 1956, the team considered him something of a consolation prize, since they had been seeking Purdue University quarterback Len Dawson. Brown quickly made any regrets disappear, winning NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 1957. In all but two of his nine seasons, Brown rushed for more than 1,000 yards, and set the standard for durability by never missing a game. In 1963, Brown carried for an unheard of 6.4 yards per carry, over 291 carries.

Brown announced his retirement on July 14, 1966 after Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell insisted that Brown report to training camp, instead of finishing his work on the movie, The Dirty Dozen. He departed as the NFL record holder for both single-season (1,863 in 1963) and career rushing of 12,312 yards, as well as the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (106) and total touchdowns (126), and all-purpose yards (15,549). He was the first player ever to reach the 100 rushing touchdowns milestone, and only a few others players have done so since then, despite the league's expansion to a 16-game regulars season in 1978 (Brown's first four seasons were only 12 games long, and his last five consisted of 14 games). Brown also set a record by reaching the 100 touchdown milestone in only 93 games, which stood until LaDainian Tomlinson reached it in 89 games during the 2006 season. He still holds the career record for yards per carry (5.2), and total seasons leading the NFL in all-purpose yards (5: 1958-1961, 1964), and is the only rusher in NFL history to average over 100 yards per game for a career. Brown was also a superb receiver out of the backfield, catching 262 passes for 2,499 yards and 20 touchdowns. Every year he played, Brown was voted into the Pro Bowl, and he left the league in style by scoring three touchdowns in his final Pro Bowl game.

"He told me, 'Make sure when anyone tackles you he remembers how much it hurts.' He lived by that philosophy and I always followed that advice." —John Mackey, 1999

Post-football career

Brown had begun his career as an actor with an appearance in the film "Rio Conchos" in 1964, and went on to star in the 1967 war movie The Dirty Dozen (during the filming of which he announced his retirement from professional football), the 1970 movie ...tick...tick...tick..., as well as in numerous other features. Brown acted with Fred Williamson in films such as: 1974's Three the Hard Way; Take a Hard Ride in 1975, 1982's One Down, Two to Go and On the Edge in 2002. Perhaps Brown's most memorable role was as Robert Jefferson in the aforementioned 1967 movie, The Dirty Dozen, and in Keenen Ivory Wayans 1987 comedy I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Brown also acted in 1987's The Running Man an adaptation of a Stephen King story. He played a coach in Any Given Sunday.

Brown was the centerfold of Playgirl magazine in September 1974.

In 1983, seventeen years after retiring from professional football, Brown mused about coming out of retirement to play for the Los Angeles Raiders when it appeared that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris would break his all-time rushing record. Brown disliked Harris' style of running, criticizing the Steeler running back's tendency to run out of bounds, a marked contrast to Brown's approach to fighting for every yard and taking on the oncoming tackler. Eventually, Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears broke the record on October 7, 1984, with Brown having ended thoughts of a comeback.

In 1993, Brown was hired as a color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Brown also was a color commentator on many of the early UFC events, but eventually he stopped participating in those events.

Brown currently works with kids caught up in the gang scene in Los Angeles through the Amer-I-Can program, which he founded in 1988. It is a self-esteem-building organization that operates in inner cites and prisons.

Legacy

Brown's memorable professional career led to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, while the The Sporting News selected him as the greatest football player of all time in 1999. Brown also earned a spot in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Brown being one the greatest in that sport as well. Brown's football talents at Syracuse garnered him a berth in the College Football Hall of Fame, giving him a rare triple crown of sorts as well as being one of the few athletes to be a Hall of Fame member in more than one sport.

In 2002, film director Spike Lee released the film Jim Brown: All-American; a retrospective on Brown's professional career and personal life.

See also

• Featured Athlete on Fox Sports Net's Beyond the Glory

External links

• Pro Football Hall of Fame profile
• Sporting News: Football's 100 Greatest Players page on Jim Brown (#1)
• Biography about Jim Brown
• Football cards of Jim Brown

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