Jim Brown

For other people named Jim Brown, see Jim Brown (disambiguation).

Jim Brown

Career history
Cleveland Browns
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Jim Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a retired American professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor and social activist. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. He is universally acclaimed as one of the best running backs of all time, and in 2002 was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever. Sportswriter Bert Randolph Sugar named Brown #1 in his book The Greatest Athletes of All Time.

Biography

===Early years===is a beastAmerican recognition in both football and lacrosse.

Professional career

When the Cleveland Browns drafted Brown in late 1956, the team considered him something of a consolation prize, since they had been seeking Purdue University quarterback Len Dawson. Brown quickly dispelled any regrets, as he won NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 1957. In all but two of his nine seasons, Brown rushed for over 1,000 yards, and set the standard for durability by never missing a game. In 1963, Brown carried for an unheard-of 6.4 yards per carry, over 291 carries.

Brown announced his retirement on July 14, 1966 after Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell insisted that Brown report to training camp, instead of finishing his work on the movie The Dirty Dozen. He departed as the NFL record holder for both single-season (1,863 in 1963) and career rushing (12,312 yards), as well as the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (106), total touchdowns (126), and all-purpose yards (15,549). He was the first player ever to reach the 100-rushing-touchdowns milestone, and only a few others have done so since, despite the league's expansion to a 16-game season in 1978 (Brown's first four seasons were only 12 games, and his last five were 14 games). Brown also set a record by reaching the 100-touchdown milestone in only 93 games, which stood until LaDainian Tomlinson reached it in 89 games during the 2006 season. He still holds the career record for yards per carry by a running back (5.2), and total seasons leading the NFL in all-purpose yards (5: 1958-1961, 1964), and is the only rusher in NFL history to average over 100 yards per game for a career. Brown was also a superb receiver out of the backfield, catching 262 passes for 2,499 yards and 20 touchdowns. Every season he played, Brown was voted into the Pro Bowl, and he left the league in style by scoring three touchdowns in his final Pro Bowl game. Perhaps the most amazing feat is that Jim Brown accomplished these records despite never playing past 29 years of age. he loved the game of football.

"He told me, 'Make sure when anyone tackles you he remembers how much it hurts.' He lived by that philosophy and I always followed that advice." —John Mackey, 1999

Brown's 1,863 rushing yards in the 1963 season remain a Cleveland franchise record. It is currently the oldest franchise record for rushing yards out of all 32 NFL teams.

Post-football career

Brown had begun his career as an actor with an appearance in the film "Rio Conchos" in 1964, and went on to star in the 1967 war movie The Dirty Dozen (during the filming of which he announced his retirement from professional football), the 1970 movie ...tick...tick...tick..., as well as in numerous other features. Brown acted with Fred Williamson in films such as: 1974's Three the Hard Way; Take a Hard Ride in 1975, 1982's One Down, Two to Go and On the Edge in 2002. Perhaps Brown's most memorable role was as Robert Jefferson in the aforementioned 1967 movie, The Dirty Dozen, and in Keenen Ivory Wayans 1987 comedy I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Brown also acted in 1987's The Running Man an adaptation of a Stephen King story. He played a coach in Any Given Sunday.

Brown was the centerfold of Playgirl magazine in September 1974.

In 1983, seventeen years after retiring from professional football, Brown mused about coming out of retirement to play for the Los Angeles Raiders when it appeared that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris would break his all-time rushing record. Brown disliked Harris' style of running, criticizing the Steeler running back's tendency to run out of bounds, a marked contrast to Brown's approach to fighting for every yard and taking on the oncoming tackler. Eventually, Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears broke the record on October 7, 1984, with Brown having ended thoughts of a comeback.

In 1993, Brown was hired as a color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Brown also was a color commentator on many of the early UFC events, but eventually he stopped participating in those events.

Brown currently works with kids caught up in the gang scene in Los Angeles and Cleveland through the Amer-I-Can [1] program, which he founded in 1988. It is a life management skills organization that operates in inner cites and prisons.

Legacy

Brown's memorable professional career led to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, while the The Sporting News selected him as the greatest football player of all time. Brown also earned a spot in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Brown being one of the greatest in that sport as well. Brown's football talents at Syracuse garnered him a berth in the College Football Hall of Fame, giving him a rare triple crown of sorts as well as being one of the few athletes to be a Hall of Fame member in more than one sport. Charger's runningback, LaDainian Tomlinson, looks up to him and trys to copy his running style. "He never wanted to be tackled" says LaDainian. Whenever he talks to him he always refers to him as Mr. Brown. He says he feels he was too great to be called just by his first name.

In 2002, film director Spike Lee released the film Jim Brown: All-American; a retrospective on Brown's professional career and personal life.

Trivia

• Jim Brown was friends with comedian Richard Pryor. Pryor often included Brown in his act, citing his intimidating stature ("I'm about as big as one of Jim Brown's legs.").

Career stats

Rushing Stats

Year	Team	G	Attempts	Yards	TD
1957	Cleveland	12	202	942	9
1958	Cleveland	12	257	1,527	17
1959	Cleveland	12	290	1,329	14
1960	Cleveland	12	215	1,257	9
1961	Cleveland	14	305	1,408	8
1962	Cleveland	14	230	996	13
1963	Cleveland	14	291	1,863	12
1964	Cleveland	14	280	1,446	7
1965	Cleveland	14	289	1,544	17
Totals		118	2,359	12,312	106

External links

• Pro Football Hall of Fame profile
• Sporting News: Football's 100 Greatest Players page on Jim Brown (#1)
• Biography about Jim Brown
• Template:Pro-football-reference
• Jim Brown at IMDb
• OrangeHoops Profile on Jim Brown
• Football cards of Jim Brown
• Jim Brown at Yahoo movies
• Member of the Cold, Hard Football Facts.com "All-Time 11" (2006)

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