The terms "legend" and "GOAT" (Greatest Of All Time) are overused regarding athletes. A legend is not just a great player; he is a transformative figure. The GOAT--if such a figure exists--possesses a combination of skill set strengths and accomplishments that are unmatched.
Jim Brown, who passed away Thursday night at the age of 87, earned the titles legend and GOAT. As long as football is written about and discussed, he will be a legend and he will be on the short list of GOAT candidates. Brown played nine dominant NFL seasons before retiring to become an actor and a social activist. Brown helped to found the Black Economic Union, and his Amer-I-Can Program operates predominantly in inner city areas, focusing on ending gang activities and helping young people to develop life skills. Brown was an active participant in the Civil Rights movement, and he joined Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and other prominent athletes at the 1967 Ali Summit in Cleveland after Muhammad Ali had been stripped of his heavyweight boxing championship for refusing induction in the U.S. military.
Unlike many self-proclaimed activists whose main activity is promoting themselves, Brown never took part in virtue signaling or empty gestures; he focused on obtaining results through self-improvement and building economic self-reliance within the Black community. He was a strong social justice advocate who also was proud to be an American, as he noted in 2018 when many athletes refused to stand for the National Anthem: "I am not going to denigrate my flag and I'm going to stand for the national anthem. I'm fighting with all of my strength to make it a better country, but I don't think that's the issue. Because what is the top side? Are you not going to stand up? This is our country, man."
Although Brown is best known for his football career and his social activism, he is also a member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and he was such a dominant lacrosse player that the sport changed its rules regarding stick-handling in response to his play. At Syracuse, Brown lettered in football, lacrosse, basketball, and track. He served as both a running back and a placekicker in Syracuse's 1956 regular season finale versus Colgate, setting an NCAA single-game scoring record with 43 points (six touchdowns plus seven extra points). Dick Schaap resigned as a Heisman Trophy voter after Brown did not receive the award in 1956.
The Cleveland Browns selected Brown with the sixth overall pick in the 1957 NFL Draft. The Browns made 10 straight championship game appearances from 1946-55 (four AAFC, six NFL) and won seven championships, but they fell on hard times in 1956 with a 5-7 record after Otto Graham's retirement. Brown had a great rookie season in 1957, leading the NFL with 942 rushing yards in a 12 game season; he also led the league with nine rushing touchdowns as he won the Rookie of the Year award and the AP MVP award. The Browns finished first in the NFL East Division with a 9-2-1 record, but lost 59-14 to the Detroit Lions in the NFL Championship Game. In 1958, Brown earned his second AP MVP award after setting the NFL's single season rushing record with 1527 yards, shattering Steve Van Buren's 1949 record of 1146 yards. Brown led the NFL with 18 touchdowns scored, four more than second place finisher Lenny Moore.
Brown won the rushing title in each of his first five seasons, and in eight of his nine seasons overall. No other running back has more than four NFL rushing titles. In 1963, Brown set a new single season rushing record (1863 yards) that stood for 10 years and was only surpassed once in a 14 game season. Brown's total now ranks 13th all-time, but the NFL season expanded to 16 games in 1978 and 17 games in 2021, so it is worth noting that his 1963 season ranks second all-time in rushing yards per game (133.1).
The Browns had a winning record in every season of Brown's career, but did not return to the NFL Championship Game until 1964, when they beat the favored Baltimore Colts 27-0. The Browns went 11-3 in 1965 but lost 23-12 to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship Game. After the 1965 season, Brown scored three touchdowns in the 1966 Pro Bowl and won co-MVP honors as his Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 36-7. That proved to be Brown's final NFL game; he went to London to film the movie "The Dirty Dozen," and when rain delayed completion of the film Brown was late for the Browns' training camp. Cleveland owner Art Modell publicly threatened to fine Brown for every week of training camp that Brown missed, and Brown responded by announcing his retirement at age 30. The greatest running back--and, arguably, greatest player--in NFL history ended his career on his terms at the peak of his powers. Brown's acting career lasted from the 1960s until well into the 2000s in both movies and on TV, but he made his greatest impact during his post-NFL days as an activist battling to end gang warfare and create economic opportunities for the Black community.
When Brown retired, he was not only the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 12,312 yards--a record that stood for 19 years--but he was 2589 yards ahead the second ranked rusher, Joe Perry, who was 2321 yards ahead of the third ranked rusher (Jim Taylor). Only Peyton Manning (five) and Aaron Rodgers (four) have won more AP NFL MVPs than Brown (three, tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady). Brown is the only non-quarterback who has won more than one AP NFL MVP. Brown earned nine Pro Bowl selections plus eight All-Pro First Team selections.
You do not have to be a football savant to see and appreciate Brown's physical gifts, but it is important to understand that he was a student of the game. When Bill Belichick coached the Cleveland Browns in the early 1990s, he brought Brown in to provide counsel to the team's running backs. Belichick praised Brown's ability to clearly and succinctly provide valuable tips about leverage and reading the defense. Belichick also called Brown the greatest football player ever "without question."
In 1999, the AP named Brown the greatest football player of the 20th century, and at the 2020 NCAA National Championship Game he was recognized as the greatest college football player of all-time. Brown ranked fourth on ESPN's SportsCentury list of the 50 greatest American athletes of the 20th century, trailing only Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, and Muhammad Ali.
I never interviewed Brown, but I met him and shook his hand at the 2004 National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland during a special dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Browns' 1964 NFL championship. I am too young to remember Brown's playing career, but as a lifelong (and long-suffering) Cleveland Browns fan it was great to not only meet Brown but also meet several other Browns legends, including Leroy Kelly and Gene Hickerson. The 2004 National Sports Collectors Convention is also the event where I met and interviewed Dolph Schayes.
During his nine season NFL career, Brown never missed a game--and that was not because he was never injured. He never showboated, and he was a highly productive player for winning teams. Although some of his numbers have been surpassed, his dominance of the running back position has never been approached, and it is difficult to imagine that it ever will be. As great as he was as an athlete, Brown wanted to be remembered as an activist. "I was fighting for freedom, equality and justice every day of my life," Brown said in a video made 10 years ago. "I was always active to create equal opportunity and to use whatever money or power I had to affect social change."
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