Jim Brown, HOF NFL Player and Civil Activist dies at 87 #history #sports #nfl #football #usa

Today in History: May 19.

In 2023, NFL legend, actor and civil rights activist, Jim Brown dies at the age of 87. He was regarded by many aficionados, as the greatest athlete of all time.

Born on February 17, 1936 in St. Simons Georgia, Brown was abandoned by his father as an infant, and as a toddler, his mother left him in the care of his great grandmother when she took a job as a maid on Long Island NY. She sent for him at the age of eight, marking the first time he saw his mother in six years.

He grew up in Manhasset New York, and attended Manhasset High School, where he was a sports prodigy, earning 13 letters playing football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and running track. He averaged 38 points per game for his basketball team, which was an Long-Island record, before Boston Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski broke it.

Brown attended Syracuse University, and excelled in multiple sports. In his sophomore year, he was the basketball teams second leading scorer, averaging 15 points per game, however he truly shined at both football and lacrosse, which is why he was inducted in both the Lacrosse and College football Hall of Fame. He was so dominant at Lacrosse that he personally caused the rules to be changed.

In 1957, Brown entered the NFL scene when he was selected by the Cleveland Browns 6th overall. Over his nine-year career, he shattered numerous records and redefined the running back position.

Brown's combination of speed, power, and agility made him virtually unstoppable on the field. He led the NFL in rushing yards in eight out of nine seasons, a feat likely never to be broken. He won 5 consecutive rushing titles (1957-'61), being the only player in league history to lead in rushing for more than three consecutive years.

To put this in its proper context, so as to help comprehend how truly exceptional he was, lets compare his rushing titles, to three other All time great running backs, Emmit Smith, Barry Sanders and Eric Dickerson. Each Hall of Famer has four rushing titles overall, which ties them for second, significantly behind Brown, who has 8. He literally doubled the greats, all while playing less seasons than the three of them, in a unquestionably more brutal league in his time. Brown was extremely agile but was not primarily known for eluding defenders, like the before mentioned Sanders. In fact, it could be argued that he sought out opponents to truck.

With such a bruising style of play, at a position that likely takes the most punishment, it would almost certainly be assumed that he missed several games during his career, but not Jim Brown, who never missed a game, participating in all 118, playing through injuries, like in one year with a broken toe and another with a sprained wrist.

In his Hall of Fame nine year career, Jim Brown was named NFL Rookie of the Year (1957), was a 3 time MVP (1957, 1958, 1965), an 8 time First-team All-Pro (1957–1961, 1963–1965), made the Second-team the remaining year (1962), made the Pro Bowl every year (1957–1965), had 8 rushing titles in 9 years (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963–1965), was a 5 time rushing touchdowns leader (1957–1959, 1963, 1965), and held multiple career rushing records, including the career rushing yards record, at the time of his retirement.

"Yardage isn’t the big thing, asserts Jim. Having your team win the championship is…That’s what I work for, winning the championship, and this requires a certain standard of performance.”

He put those words in action when he led the Cleveland Browns to a championship victory in 1964.

Beyond football, Brown was an advocate for civil rights, using his platform to address racial issues in his day, as well as discussing how black Americans could build their own institutions and subsequently become more self reliant.

Despite retiring from professional football in the prime of his career, Jim Brown name reigns at the top of NFL lore, where it will remain, for as long as the sport his relevant.