Jim Brown, one of the greatest running backs to play in the NFL, a multi-sport star in college, and a Civil Rights activist, has died. He was 87.
Mr. Brown's wife, Monique Brown, announced his death in an Instagram post Friday afternoon:
Mr. Brown is regarded as one of, if not the greatest running back and overall player in NFL history. He led the league in rushing in eight of the nine seasons he played with the Cleveland Browns, as he rushed for 12,312 yards and led the Browns to three NFL Championship Game appearances and a title in 1964. He was named the league's MVP three times (1958, 1963, 1965) and was named to the Pro Bowl in every season he played.
Commissioner Roger Goodell on the passing of Hall of Fame RB Jim Brown. pic.twitter.com/jgVjPbH0Rv
— NFL (@NFL) May 19, 2023
Remembering Jim Brown: An Unmatched Legacy pic.twitter.com/atv7LdU8Si
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) May 19, 2023
Mr. Brown was drafted sixth overall by Cleveland in 1957. He rushed for a league-high 942 yards and nine touchdowns on his way to being voted Rookie of the Year and league MVP that season.
He was named to the NFL 100 all-time team in 2019 was ranked as the No. 1 player in college football history in ESPN's College Football 150 in 2020.
Today, we lost a true legend. May Jim Brown, my @ProFootballHOF brother, rest in peace and power. pic.twitter.com/E1TSztpjga
— Jerome Bettis (@JeromeBettis36) May 19, 2023
I've written and spoken it for years: Jim Brown's the greatest football player who ever lived. And beyond that, a giant of an American. Condolences to the #Browns, to the people of Cleveland and the NFL family as a whole. There'll never be another:pic.twitter.com/7SpHPTX6VC
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) May 19, 2023
Before he rose to stardom in the NFL, Mr. Brown was a star in four sports at Syracuse University. He lettered in football, basketball, lacrosse and track and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, in addition to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a unanimous All-American in football following his final season, and he was a two-time All-American in lacrosse at Syracuse.
He is one of three Syracuse football legends to don the legendary number 44, which is retired in honor of Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, and him. Syracuse University's zip code and phone number exchange were subsequently changed at varying points of history to incorporate the number 44 in their honor. Mr. Brown was added to Syracuse's ring of honor this past fall.
He retired in the 1966 offseason as he was in London filming for "The Dirty Dozen" when team owner Art Modell ordered him to return to America so he can partake in offseason drills. Mr. Brown stated, from London, that "I’m no longer preparing mentally for football. I’m committing myself to other things. I’m not going to play again.”
Mr. Brown appeared in more than 30 movies in his acting career, including "Any Given Sunday," "Three the Hard Way," and "El Condor."
He then became a voice for Black athletes during the Civil Rights movement, most notably as the one to organize the "Cleveland Summit" or the "Ali Summit," in response to charges brought to Muhammad Ali for his public refusal to serve in the Vietnam War. Other prominent figures to attend the summit on June 4, 1967, to determine whether they would support Ali were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell and Carl Stokes. Ali gained their support, but he was convicted of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing championships two weeks later. The Supreme Court reversed Ali's conviction in 1971, ruling there was a failure to consider Ali's application as a conscientious objector.
Mr. Brown also founded the Black Economic Union in 1968, and founded Amer-I-Can Foundation in 1988.
