James Nathaniel Brown, also known as Jim Brown, was born on February 17, 1936, and died on May 18, 2023. He was a legendary American football fullback, civil rights activist, and actor.
Jim Brown was born on St. Simons Island in Georgia. His father, Swinton, was a professional boxer, and his mother, Theresa, was a homemaker. Brown attended Manhasset Secondary School, in Manhasset, New York, where he earned thirteen varsity letters for playing football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and track. Based on his high school career alone, it was clear that he would be known as a legendary football star.
Throughout his years at Syracuse University, where he attended from 1953 to 1956, Brown had many hardships in his position because of his race, but that didn’t stop him from achieving his passion as an athlete. In his college years, Brown was involved in lacrosse, football, basketball, and track.
Although Syracuse didn’t believe in having black athletes on its teams, Brown was the only African-American player on the football team as a freshman in 1953. Yet Brown lived in a dorm for non-athletes and encountered a lot of hatred and hostility from his peers.
His teammates told him he wasn’t good enough, but Brown could not care less about it, and he believed he was the best running back they had on the football team. That soon led him into his career. By 1957, Brown had caught the attention of the NFL football team, the Cleveland Browns, who decided he had to play for their team.
Brown was originally the top pick on the draft list. Paul Brown, who coached the Browns from 1946 to 1963, wasn’t thinking about Brown at the time, but he was left on the list.
Brown soon enough made an impression during his first year as a rookie. In the ninth game of his first season, he recorded a record 236 rushing yards and four touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams. He maintained his rookie record for the next forty years until Corey Dillon of the Cincinnati Bengals beat his record by rushing for 246 yards in a single game.
One of Brown’s most memorable moments was when he started his professional career as a running back with the Browns and broke several records. He broke a single-season rushing record by gaining 1,572 yards in just twelve games. With that new record, Brown shattered Steve Van Buren’s previous record of 1,146 yards, which he had set in 1949. This is insane since most rushing yards per game are about 127.3 and the average football is 100 yards. It’s incredible to consider how many times Brown ran throughout that season. His rushing yards were roughly 104.3 yards in just regular games. Running backs only have to sprint to get the ball to the touchdown after the quarterback passes it to them.
Throughout his time in football, Brown rushed over 12,000 yards and scored over 120 touchdowns in his nine seasons for the Browns. He established his game with his speed and balance. He was known for his ability to dominate the other players on the field. Brown was portrayed as Flash on the field, and all he did was run all day, every other game, and no one was able to stop him. In any game you watch, you can see that not one player was able to tackle him.
Eventually, on January 2, 1966, Jim Brown played his official last professional football game before retiring at the age of 30. His final game was against the Green Bay Packers, who lost 23-12 in the NFL Championship, and he finished his third MVP season. On July 13th of that year, Brown officially retired from the Cleveland Brown and the NFL. His accomplishments from his nine years of playing include being a three-time MVP, eight-time unanimous All-NFL selection, an NFL Championship, the Rookie of the Year Award, and the NFL rushing yards leader most of his time playing on the field. Finally, in 1971 Brown was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his heroic role as a running back.
At the height of his career, Brown later found his path as an actor. He appeared in thirty films, but his most well-known movies include The Dirty Dozen (1967), 100 Rifles (1969), Tick, Tick, Tick (1970), and Dark of the Sun (1968). He won an NAACP Image Award for his role in The Dirty Dozen and got several nominations for the Sports Emmy Awards and the Laurel Awards.
And although he made his career as an athlete and an actor, Brown was also known as an activist. After his retirement, he had two main concerns on his mind: African American economic development and community engagement. In 1966, Brown founded the Black Economic Union, and he enlisted other African American athletes, such as Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor, to promote economic businesses for black folks, so that they could have an opportunity to succeed.
However, all this came from the Cleveland Summit, which occurred during the Vietnam War. Muhammad Ail was drafted to join the military to fight in the war, but he refused to be drafted. The great African American athletes, including Brown and Russell, stood by Ali and supported his decision, rather than leaving his side. This issue caused Ali to be stripped of his boxing titles.
Sadly, on March 18th, 2023, Brown died of a natural cause at the age of 87 years old. Yet the Cleveland Browns couldn’t ignore their number one player. Instead, the stadium and fans honored who he was, creating a special day in his name.
If you are interested to read more about Jim Brown, I highly recommend reading this article. Nitros, always remember this: don’t let your skin color define your future. Let your actions define your future for yourself.
