Fri 19 May, 2023 04:49 pm
Quote:Jim Brown, one of football's greatest ever, dies at 87
Jim Brown, one of the greatest professional and college football players of all time, has died. He was 87.
His wife, Monique, announced Brown's death in an Instagram post Friday afternoon. She said Brown "passed peacefully" Thursday night in their home in Los Angeles.
"To the world he was an activist, actor, and football star," the post stated. "To our family he was a loving and wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. Our hearts are broken..."
In 2020, Brown was selected to the NFL 100 all-time team and also was ranked as the No. 1 all-time player on the College Football 150 list to celebrate those sports' anniversaries. He was named the greatest football player ever by the Sporting News in 2002.
Brown, who was selected in the first round of the 1957 draft, played nine seasons for the Cleveland Browns (1957-65) and led the league in rushing eight of those years. He rushed for 12,312 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry over his career. He also was named a Pro Bowler every year he played. He led the Browns to the league championship game three times, winning the title in 1964, and was named MVP three times.
He ran for at least 100 yards in 58 of his 118 regular-season games, never missing a game. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in seven seasons, including 1,527 yards in one 12-game season and 1,863 in a 14-game season.
Brown also worked to empower the Black community during the Civil Rights Movement. In June 1967, Brown organized "The Cleveland Summit," a meeting of the nation's top Black athletes, including Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor -- who later became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- to support boxer Muhammad Ali's fight against serving in Vietnam. In later years, Brown worked to curb gang violence in Los Angeles and in 1988 founded Amer-I-Can,
a program to help disadvantaged inner-city youth and ex-convicts.
(espn)
Jim Brown has a special place in my heart, because he was the guy who taught me that it was possible to be a fan of one team...and actually cheer for a player on another.
During my earliest days of being a GIANTS fan, I looked forward to seeing Cleveland come into town because I was going to see Jim Brown play. He was amazing to watch...a combination of a lightening bolt and a bulldozer on the field.
His battles with GIANTS middle linebacker, Sam Huff, were things of history.
He may have riled lots of people with his activism during his retirement, but he was top-notch in my book all the way.
RIP, Jim.
@Frank Apisa,
wish i had seen him play live -- he retired the year i was born...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbRoQ1cZDXo
@Region Philbis,
The linemen and line backers knew he would get the ball...and still he would crash through them like he was a bulldozer.
There was only one other running back that I was in awe of.
OJ Simpson.
Okay, okay. I know.
But when he was playing, it was a sight to see. He was not like Jim Brown...he had more twist and turn moves to his runs. But like with Brown, the linemen and linebackers knew he was gonna carry...and he just duked 'em outta their jocks.
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