Brown retired after the following season in 1965, leaving the NFL at 31 the all-time leading rusher (12,312 yards). The record would stand until 1984.
Jim Brown passed away on Friday at the age of 79 as the greatest player in the history of professional football.
A three-time NFL MVP, Brown was elected to Pro Bowls all nine seasons of his career, and an NFL All-Pro every season except 1962. Hall of Famer Marion Mottley is second on the Browns’ all time rushing list with 7,274, but is likely to be eclipsed by Nick Chubb (currently at 6,341) midway through the 2023 season.
Brown was a member of the Cleveland Browns’ inaugural Hall Of Fame in 2010, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995, and the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983. At Syracuse University, Brown was a four-star athlete in football, track, basketball and lacrosse. The NFL named their yearly award for the leading rusher in the regular season after Brown last year, and the Premier Lacrosse League did the same with their league MVP trophy when founded in 2019.
His #32 is one of only five numbers to be retired by the Cleveland Browns franchise, and the team built a statue in his likeness outside of one of the gates of Cleveland Browns Stadium in 2016. Brown’s #44 was also retired by Syracuse, which was later worn by fellow Browns’ Hall of Famer Ernie Davis, and NFL Hall of Famer Floyd Little.
Leading the NFL in rushing eight times, Brown’s 12,312 yards still rank 11th on the NFL’s all-time list. His 1,863 yards in his final season also rank 13th on the league’s single-season list, which was broken in 1973, when O.J. Simpson became the first in league history to eclipse 2,000 yards (2,003). The 1965 record-setting season saw Brown hold a still-record 6.4 yards-per-carry average. Since then, only three players have eclipsed the 6.0 mark. Brown set his record in only 291 attempts.
Brown was certainly not without his share of controversy both on and off the field. He was arrested seven times for assault, with several of them against women. It is well documented he dropped a woman from a second-story window in 1968, and also spent three months in jail in 2000 after terrorist threats against his wife Monique. Brown opted to serve time rather than comply with the court-mandated counseling and community service.
Jim Brown remained a prominent figure with the Browns’ organization for many years after retiring, and was also a color commentator for the first six Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pay-per-view events.
While his accomplishments on the field will never be eclipsed by another running back in the history of the NFL, Brown may be almost as well remembered for what he did for civil rights as far back as 1950. Brown was part of the 1967 Cleveland Summit with Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Boston Celtics’ legend Bill Russell, and then-Cleveland mayor Carl Stokes. He helped found the Black Economic Union in 1968, formerly known as the Negro Industrial Economic Union. Most notably, Brown helped found the Amer-I-Can foundation in 1998, which aims to divert gang members from prison, by teaching them life skills.
When Judas owner of the Cleveland Browns Art Modell threatened to suspend Brown for not reporting to training camp on time for 1965, due to Brown’s filming of “The Dirty Dozen,” he opted to retire from football to pursue a career in acting. Brown would be cast in over 40 films, and had appearances on several popular TV shows of the 1980’s, such as “Chips” and “Knight Rider.”
However, his appearance in the 2014 film “Draft Day” would be the first time Brown ever appeared in a film as himself. The film was a fictitious look at the Cleveland Browns’ dealings of having the top-overall pick in the NFL Draft, which ironically Brown was not. He was picked sixth in 1957, while the Browns have held the top overall pick four times since returning to the NFL in 1999.
Tributes are already pouring in from LeBron James, to current NFL rushing record-holder Emmett Smith, to the Browns and Pro Football Hall of Fames issuing their own statements. The video board outside Cleveland Browns Stadium simply shows Brown’s 32 on a black background. Many are already predicting the Browns will have an on-field tribute of Brown’s 32 in the end zone or at the 50-yard line for the upcoming season, much like the Celtics put Russell’s #6 in the paint at TD Banknorth Garden for this season after his passing back in July. Others have already called for the Browns to name the field “Jim Brown Field at Cleveland Browns Stadium.”
Jim Brown (1936-2023). Rest well, sir. You will be missed by all, especially here in Cleveland.
-JC24