Jim Brown, a running back in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who quit at the height of his prodigious career to become an actor and a leading civil rights activist in the 1960s, has passed away. He was 87.
Brown’s wife, Monique, was by his side when he died quietly on Thursday night in their Los Angeles home, according to a family spokesman.
“To the world, he was an activist, actor, and football star,” Monique Brown said in a post on Instagram on Friday. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandpa to our family. Our hearts are torn apart.
Jim Brown, a former NFL star
One of the earliest football superstars, Brown was selected as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1965 and broke several league records during his brief career, which lasted from 1957 to 1965.
Brown guided the Cleveland Browns to their final NFL championship in 1964 before quitting in his prime following the 1965 campaign to pursue a career as an actor. More than 30 films featured him, including The Dirty Dozen and Any Given Sunday.
Brown, a strong runner with speed and stamina, arrived just as the game on television was beginning to get traction.
Brown battled for equality with Black Americans, championing their cause with his platform and voice.
LeBron James of the NBA remarked, “I hope every Black player takes the time to educate themselves about this wonderful guy and what he achieved to alter all of our lives. “We are all standing on your shoulders, Jim Brown.”
To support boxer Muhammad Ali’s struggle against going to Vietnam, Brown convened The Cleveland Summit in June 1967, bringing together the best Black athletes in the country, including Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor, better known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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Later on, he fought to reduce gang violence in LA and in 1988, he launched Amer-I-Can, an initiative to aid ex-offenders and impoverished inner-city youngsters.
On the field, some believe Cleveland’s matchless No. 32 is the best player to ever play. He was tenacious, battling for every yard, dragging numerous defenders along, or finding openings where none seemed to exist. He was 6-foot-2-inches (189 cm) and 230 pounds (104 kg).
In each of his nine seasons in the league, Brown, an eight-time All-Pro, played in the Pro Bowl. Brown owned the league records for yards (12,312) and touchdowns (126) when he quit the sport at the age of 30.
In addition, despite his rough play, Browns participated in 118 straight games, missing only one.
“Jim Brown is a true icon of not just the Cleveland Browns but of the entire NFL,” stated Dee and Jimmy Haslam, the owners of the Cleveland Browns. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest players in NFL history and unquestionably the best player to ever wear a Browns uniform. One of the factors contributing to the Browns’ massive fan base today is Jim.
“So many people grew up watching him just completely dominate every time he stepped onto the football pitch, but his countless honours on the pitch only tell a small part of his story,” the author writes. He should also be recognised for his dedication to having a good influence on all of mankind off the pitch.
On behalf of the league, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent his sympathies.
Jim Brown was not just a talented athlete who was among the most dominant athletes to ever foot onto an athletic field, but he was also a cultural icon who worked to advance change, according to Goodell.
Brown, though, was a divisive character off the pitch and was detained a dozen times, most often for allegedly striking women.
Brown’s wife reported to 911 in June 1999 that Brown had wrecked her car with a shovel and had threatened to murder her. In court, Monique Brown changed her story. Jim Brown was found guilty of misdemeanour vandalism after being cleared of a charge of domestic threats. When Brown declined to participate in domestic violence counselling, the court in Los Angeles gave him a six-month prison term.
Brown, who was born on February 17, 1936, in St. Simons Island, Georgia, excelled in a variety of sports at Long Island’s Manhasset High School.
Brown, a two-sport standout at Syracuse who some consider to be the finest lacrosse player in NCAA history, had to put up with several racial slurs while competing at the then-virtually all-white institution.
The sixth overall choice in the 1957 draught, Brown joined a club that frequently competed for the championship. That year, he won the award for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Brown broke a league record with 1,527 yards and scored 17 touchdowns while running behind an offensive line that included Hall of Fame linemen Lou Groza and Mike McCormack. In 1958, Brown won the league’s Most Outstanding Player award, which was a forerunner to the MVP. Before gaining just 996 in 1962, he never ran for fewer than 1,257 yards throughout the course of the following three seasons.
Eight times he was the NFL’s leading rusher, with a career-high 1,863 yards in 1963. He rushed for 5.2 yards on average, averaged 104 yards per game, and scored 106 running touchdowns. Brown, a skilled receiver who also scored 20 additional touchdowns, concluded the season with 262 catches for 2,499 yards.
Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers famously stated, “I’ve said it many times, and I’ll repeat it always: Jim Brown is the best, and he will still be the best long after all his records are broken.
The Browns retired Brown’s No. 32 in 1971, the same year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In 2016, the Browns built a statue of Brown in front of their stadium.
Monique, Brown’s wife, and their little kid are still alive. After 13 years of marriage to Sue Brown, with whom he had three children, he got a divorce.