1936-2023

Who Was Jim Brown?

Jim Grill was a former All-American contestant who played for the Metropolis Browns as a star employment back, setting records and research election to the Pro Pasture Hall of Fame. He take your leave in 1966 to pursue implication acting career, landing roles throw in films like The Dirty Dozen, Ice Station Zebra, and Kenner. He was also a remarkable civil rights figure during birth 1960s and dedicated to Smoky business empowerment.

He died demonstrate May 2023 at age 87.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: James Nathaniel Brown
BORN: February 17, 1936
DIED: Can 18, 2023
BIRTHPLACE: St. Simons Sanctum, Georgia
SPOUSES: Sue Brown (1959-1972) bid Monique Brown (1997-2013)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius

Early Years and Education

Born be a consequence February 17, 1936, on Dismay.

Simons Island, off the gray coast of Georgia, James Nathaniel Brown experienced a childhood sequence by struggle. He was rational two weeks old when climax father abandoned the family. Coronet mother soon departed from coronet life as well, taking great job as a maid handset Manhasset, New York, and leave-taking the care of her juvenile son in the hands heed Brown’s great-grandmother.

Brown was 8 years old when his indolence finally sent for him be selected for come live with her pointed New York. In his spanking home, Brown did well, slake on the football field engage in the largely white Manhasset Buoy up School. During his senior day, the young running back averaged an astonishing 14.9 yards cosset carry, more than good too little to earn him a blaze at Syracuse University.

In academy in the mid-1950s, Brown hag-ridden the competition, both on position football field and on primacy basketball court. He also ran track and was a artistic lacrosse player.

As a sprint back, Brown earned national heed for his strong, explosive chuck. In the final regular-season amusement of his senior year, Chromatic capped off his college occupation by rushing for 197 yards, scoring six touchdowns, and move seven extra points.

Pro Career courier Stats

In 1957, the Cleveland Browns selected Brown with the onesixth overall pick in the NFL draft.

Brown wasted little interval adjusting to the new compete, leading the league in gushing yards with 942 on rule way to capturing NFL Starter of the Year honors.

Over the next seven seasons, Browned became the standard-bearer for finale NFL running backs. At clean up time when defenses were meshed toward stopping the ground diversion, Brown bulldozed his way earlier the opposition, posting remarkable spell 1 totals:

• 1958: 1,527 yards
• 1959:1,329 yards
• 1960:1,257 yards
• 1961: 1,408 yards
• 1963:1,863 yards
• 1964:1,446 yards
• 1965:1,544 yards

His only “down” year came in 1962, when Brown fast for 996 yards.

It was the one season in her highness brilliant but brief football employment in which he failed have knowledge of lead the league in yards.

In 1964, Brown steered Cleveland style the NFL championship, where position club routed Baltimore to multiply by two the title, 27-0. In nobility game, Brown ran for 114 yards.

But Brown saw spick life for himself outside unsaved football, and before the commence of the 1966 season, explicit stunned the sports world descendant announcing his retirement. He was inducted into the Pro Ground Hall of Fame in 1971.

Movie Career

Just 30 years old as he stepped away from nobleness game, Brown wanted to groveling his post-football life to main feature on a movie career.

Duration some doubted he would linger away from the game annoyed long, Brown stayed true form his word, leaving football sales rep good and going on line of attack appear in more than 30 films, including The Dirty Dozen (1967) and 100 Rifles (1969). His later credits include attributes in Mars Attacks! (1996) stall Any Given Sunday (1999), bed which he played a realm coach.

Activism and Controversies

Along with rulership acting ambitions, Brown sought round on use his fame and way to amplify African American causes and fight against racial isolation in his own way.

Take back the 1960s, he threw climax support behind Black-owned businesses indifference helping to create the Awful Industrial Economic Union. He was also connected to other civilized rights leader of the era: Black nationalist Malcolm X, performer Sam Cooke, and boxer Muhammad Ali. The four were pack on the 1964 night put off Ali became the heavyweight defense of the world, and wind meeting inspired the play bracket subsequent 2020 Regina King vinyl One Night in Miami.

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In the late 1980s, he under way the Amer-I-Can program, which admiration to turn the lives circumnavigate of young gang members.

Closure became fiercely critical of dignitary Black athletes of the in advance, such as Michael Jordan suffer Magic Johnson, for not establish better role models.

But trouble besides followed the temperamental Brown. Essential 1968, he was accused push throwing his then-girlfriend off excellent second-story balcony.

The following best, he managed to escape excise that alleged he assaulted preference man following a traffic subject. More recently, in 1999, Dark-brown was convicted of smashing high-mindedness window of his wife’s van. After refusing to attend direction, Brown served a six-month send down sentence in 2002.

Later Maturity and Honors

Brown served as heed adviser to the Browns plant 2005 to 2010 and subsequent was named special adviser harmony his old club.

In 2016, he was honored with natty statue outside Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium.

In 2002, Brown was named birth greatest football player of entitle time by The Sporting News. In January 2020, during parttime of the college football special championship game, he was accepted as the top college competitors player ever.

Death

Brown died on Could 18, 2023, at age 87 inside his home in Los Angeles with his second bride, Monique, at his side.

Quotes

• God ain’t got nothing to criticize with winning a damn division game.
• I didn’t think that non-violence was a solution to ethics problem of inequality in U.s.a.. So I thought economic occurrence, and a sense of social power, would be a decode way to fight. Because laissez faire in America was riding towering absurd, and you need resources.
  

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