At the age of 87, Jim Brown, one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, passed away.
This is an undated picture of Jim Brown, the running back for the Cleveland Browns. Brown won NFL Rookie of the Year in 1957 after being named an All-American at Syracuse in 1956. In addition, he was the NFL’s leading rusher eight times, an eight-time All-Pro from 1957 to 1961 and a three-time MVP from Cleveland in 1958, 1963, and 1965, and in just nine seasons, he rushed for 12,312 yards and scored 126 touchdowns.
Jim Brown passed away. He was a brilliant running back for the Cleveland Browns in the 1950s and 1960s. The Hall of Famer was 87. On Instagram, his spouse Monique Brown declared that he “went away peacefully last night at our LA home.”
“He was a football player, actor, and activist throughout the world. He was a devoted and amazing father, grandfather, and husband to our family. Our hearts are shattered.”
Brown was hailed as a brilliant athlete and “one of the most dominant players to ever tread on any sporting field” by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.In a statement, he also highlighted his contributions to the civil rights movement, establishing himself as a pioneer and an inspiration for athletes to get involved in extracurricular social causes.
Brown became one of the greatest players of all time during his nine seasons as a Cleveland Brown. However, football was only the beginning of a successful…and contentious—life.
An exceptional sportsman
Jim Brown described it as the most exquisite game he had ever engaged in. a combination of quickness, speed, and intelligence. He became the first Black player to be admitted into the Hall of Fame thanks to his abilities.
For lacrosse.
In contrast to his aggressive and defining sport of football, it appeared out of place. But the fact that Brown participated in four sports at Syracuse University was evidence of his exceptional athleticism. Track and field, basketball, lacrosse and of course football.
The one that stuck was the one.
In 2000, he told the NFL Network how much he enjoyed football’s never-ending challenge.
“In every aspect—mental toughness, bravery, stamina-wise,” Brown remarked. You are forced to the edge, and you have two options: accept it or not.”
Jim Brown “dealt with it,” as football fans would say, maybe better than any running back in the history of the team.
Not merely passing through
However, he wasn’t limited to running through tacklers because of his exceptional blend of strength, speed, and quickness. The big touchdown runs that line his highlight reel show how quickly he sped by and away from them.
During a football game in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on January 2, 1966, this file photo shows Jim Brown (32), of the Cleveland Browns, turning the corner while a Green Bay Packer defense swings with him.
AP
For running backs, rushing for 100 yards in a game remains the ultimate goal. For the entirety of his career, Brown averaged over a hundred yards each regular season game.
In NFL history, he is the only one to have done it.
Other noteworthy Jim Brown’s career statistics are as follows: 5.2 is his average yards per carry; 8 is the number of times in his nine years that he led the league in running; and 0 is the number of games he missed.
Was he the ideal back-up quarterback? Nearly. There was a weakness in his resume: he disliked blocking.
Gino Marchetti, the late Hall of Fame defensive end, once stated, “The only thing I could say about Jim Brown is that he might not have been the best blocker in the world.” But since you could run and do the same things he could, who cares about that?”
Among those were Brown’s mental preparation for the match.
Brown always rose slowly after a tackle. Hence, the defenders were unaware of whether he was injured.
Longtime New York Times sports columnist William Rhoden described it as “a little bit of playing possum.” “This is it, he’s had enough,” he said, slowly getting to his feet before completely overwhelming the defense the next play.
When Rhoden was a young NFL fan, he enjoyed watching Jim Brown play long before he wrote about him. However, he was especially fond of Brown’s permanent exit from the game.
An arrogant man becomes difficult
It was 1966 summertime. Even at thirty, Brown was in peak playing form. He had taken home his third Associated Press NFL MVP title the year before. Brown was also a budding actor, and that summer he was in England filming “The Dirty Dozen,” a World War II drama.
Due to the production delay, Brown was going to be late for training camp in Cleveland.
Owner of the team Art Modell made the painful decision to punish his top player, threatening to fine Brown for any days he missed.
Brown regained his toughness. He gave up his job.
He wrote to Modell on the movie set a few days prior to his declaration.
Brown replied, “I was extremely unhappy to see you make the statements that you did since it was a victory for the newspaper men, not for you or me.” Thankfully, it appears that I have slightly more faith in you than you have in me. I really do like you and I’ll do everything in my power to support you, but you have to understand that we’re both men and that my masculinity is just as valuable to me as yours is.”
African American Rhoden admired Brown’s strong statement to the owner of his team.
“This proud Black man, you’re going to try to do that to me? Fuck you!” And that, in Rhoden’s opinion, is when his legend really started to take off. And after that, it would only get worse.”
A year following his abrupt retirement, Brown solidified his burgeoning legacy by arranging the Cleveland Summit.
