James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an
American football fullback,
civil rights activist, and actor. He played for the
Cleveland Browns of the
National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest
running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history,
[1] Brown was a
Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the
AP NFL Most Valuable Player three times, and won an
NFL championship with the Browns in 1964. He led the league in
rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he held most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by
The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever.
[2]
Brown earned
unanimous All-America honors playing college football at
Syracuse University, where he was an all-around player for the
Syracuse Orangemen football team. The team later
retired his number 44 jersey, and he was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. He is also widely considered one of the greatest
lacrosse players of all time,
[3][4][5] and the
Premier Lacrosse League MVP Award is named in his honor.
[6] Brown also excelled in basketball and track and field.
[7]
In his professional career, Brown carried the ball 2,359 times for 12,312 rushing yards and 106
touchdowns, which were all records when he retired. He averaged 104.3 rushing yards per game, and is the only player in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career. Brown was enshrined in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He was named to the NFL's
50th,
75th, and
100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, comprising the best players in NFL history. Brown was honored at the
2020 College Football Playoff National Championship as the greatest college football player of all time.
[8][9] His number 32 jersey is retired by the Browns.
Shortly before the end of his football career, Brown became an actor. He retired at the peak of his football career to pursue an acting career. He obtained 53 acting credits and several leading roles throughout the 1970s.
[10][11][12] He has been described as Hollywood's first black action hero and his role in the 1969 film
100 Rifles made cinematic history for featuring interracial love scenes.
[13]
Brown was one of the few athletes, and among the most prominent African Americans, to speak out on racial issues as the
civil rights movement was growing in the 1950s. He participated in the
Cleveland Summit after
Muhammad Ali faced imprisonment for refusing to enter the
draft for the
Vietnam War, and he founded the Black Economic Union to help promote economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses. Brown later launched a foundation focused on diverting at-risk youth from violence through teaching them life skills, through which he facilitated the
Watts truce between rival street gangs in Los Angeles.
Brown's autobiography, published in 1989 by Zebra Books, was titled
Out of Bounds and was co-written with Steve Delsohn.
[90] He was a subject of the book
Jim: The Author's Self-Centered Memoir of the Great Jim Brown, by
James Toback.
[91]
In 1993, Brown was hired as a
color commentator for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, a role he occupied for the first six
pay-per-view events.
[92] In 2008, Brown initiated a lawsuit against
Sony and
EA Sports for using his likeness in the
Madden NFL video game series. He claimed that he "never signed away any rights that would allow his likeness to be used".
[93] From 2008 until his death, Brown served as an executive advisor to the Browns. In that capacity he helped to build relationships with the team's players and to further enhance the NFL's wide range of sponsored programs through the team's player programs department.
[94] On May 29, 2013, Brown was named a special advisor to the Browns.
[95] Brown became a part-owner of the
New York Lizards of
Major League Lacrosse, joining a group of investors in the purchase of the team in 2012.
[96]
On October 11, 2018, Brown along with
Kanye West met with President
Donald Trump to discuss the state of America, among other topics.
[97] Criticized by the black community for the meeting, Brown said that Trump was the sitting president and "we can't ignore that seat and just call names of the person that's sitting in it". Brown called him "accessible", and said that
the president was not a racist.
[98]
Assault allegations
Brown was arrested at least seven times for assault, mainly against women.
[99] During the era when the incidents occurred, prominent men were usually not scrutinized for reported offenses against women.
[46] He was never found guilty of a major crime;
[46] in most of the cases, the women refused to press charges after calling the police.
[100] In 1965, Brown was arrested in his hotel room for assault and battery against an 18-year-old Brenda Ayres; he was later acquitted of those charges.
[101] A year later, he fought paternity allegations that he fathered her child.
[102]
In 1968, Brown was charged with assault with intent to commit murder after model Eva Bohn-Chin was found beneath the balcony of Brown's second-floor apartment.
[103] The charges were later dismissed after Bohn-Chin refused to cooperate with the prosecutor's office. Brown was also ordered to pay a $300 fine for striking a deputy sheriff involved in the investigation during the incident. In Brown's autobiography, he stated that Bohn-Chin was angry and jealous over an affair he had been having with
Gloria Steinem, and this argument is what led to the "misunderstanding with the police".
[104]
Brown in 2000
In 1970, Brown was found not guilty of assault and
battery, the charges stemming from a road-rage incident that had occurred in 1969.
[105] In 1975, Brown was convicted of misdemeanor battery for beating and choking his golfing partner, Frank Snow. He was sentenced to one day in jail, two years' probation, and a fine of $500.
[106][107] In 1985, Brown was charged with raping a 33-year-old woman.
[108] The charges were later dismissed.
[109] In 1986, he was arrested for assaulting his fiancée Debra Clark.
[110] Clark refused to press charges, and he was released.
[111]
In 1999, Brown was arrested and charged with making terroristic threats toward his wife Monique. According to Brown, "The only time [we] ever have an argument is during [her
menstrual period]". Later that year, he was found guilty of vandalism for smashing her car with a shovel.
[112] He was sentenced to three years' probation, one year of
domestic violence counseling, and 400 hours of community service or 40 hours on a work crew along with a $1,800 fine.
[113] Brown ignored the terms of his sentence and in 2000 was sentenced to six months in jail, which he began serving in 2002 after refusing the court-ordered counseling and
community service.
[114] He was released after three months.
[115][116]
"There is no excuse for violence", said Brown in 2015.
[54] "There is never a justification for anyone to impose themselves on someone else. And it will always be incorrect when it comes to a man and a woman, regardless of what might have happened. You need to be man enough to take the blow. That is always the best way. Do not put your hands on a woman."
[54]
Personal life
Brown married his first wife Sue Brown (née Jones) in September 1959.
[101] She sued for divorce in 1968, charging him with "gross neglect". Together, they had three children, twins born 1960, and a son born 1962.
[117] Their divorce was finalized in 1972.
[118] Brown was ordered to pay $2,500 per month in
alimony and $100 per week for
child support.
[119]
In December 1973, Brown proposed to 18-year-old Diane Stanley, a
Clark College student he met in
Acapulco, Mexico, in April of that year.
[120][121] They broke off their engagement in 1974.
[122] Brown married his second wife, Monique, in 1997; they had two children.
[123]
Death
Brown died of natural causes, at the age of 87 on May 18, 2023, at his home in Los Angeles.
[124] He died with his wife by his side. Tributes from the sports world and beyond soon poured in, with former NFL running back
Barry Sanders posting on Twitter that "You can't underestimate the impact Jim Brown had on the NFL."
Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leader in
rushing yards, wrote "He is and was a true legend in sports and in the community using his platform to help others." NFL Commissioner
Roger Goodell said "Jim Brown was a gifted athlete — one of the most dominant players to ever step on any athletic field — but also a cultural figure who helped promote change."
LeBron James, an NBA star, wrote in tribute that "We lost a hero today. Rest in Paradise to the legend Jim Brown. I hope every Black athlete takes the time to educate themselves about this incredible man and what he did to change all of our lives. We all stand on your shoulders Jim Brown."
Barack Obama, the 44th president and the first Black president of the United States, wrote, "I was too young to remember Jim Brown's playing days, but I knew his legacy. One of the greatest football players ever, he was also an actor and activist – speaking out on civil rights, and pushing other black athletes to do the same."
[45][125]
Sporting accolades
Helmet signed by Brown
Brown's memorable professional career led to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. His football accomplishments at Syracuse garnered him a berth in the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
[126] Brown was inducted in the
National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983.
[127]
Brown is the only NFL player to average 100 rushing yards per game for their career.
[128] In 118 career games, he averaged 104.3 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry; only
Barry Sanders (99.8 yards per game and 5.0 yards per carry)
[129] comes close to these totals. For example, Hall of Famer Walter Payton averaged only 88 yards per game during his career with a 4.4 yards-per-carry average.
Emmitt Smith averaged only 81.2 yards per game with a 4.2 yards-per-carry average.
[130] Brown held the yards-per-carry record by a running back (minimum 750 carries) from his retirement in 1965 until
Jamaal Charles broke the record in 2012.
[131]
ESPN's SportsCentury in 1999 ranked Brown fourth among their
50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century, trailing only
Muhammed Ali,
Babe Ruth, and
Michael Jordan. In 2002,
The Sporting News selected him as the greatest football player of all time,
[2] as did the
New York Daily News in 2014.
[132] On November 4, 2010, Brown was chosen by
NFL Network's
NFL Films production
The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players as the second-greatest player in NFL history, behind only
Jerry Rice. In November 2019, he was selected as one of the twelve running backs on the
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
[133]
On January 13, 2020, Brown was named the greatest college football player of all time by ESPN, during a ceremony at the
College Football Playoff National Championship Game celebrating the 150th anniversary of college football.
[134]
