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1936-2023
Who Was Jim Brown?
Jim Brown was a former All-American athlete who played for the Cleveland Browns as a star running back, setting records and earning election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He retired in 1966 to pursue an acting career, landing roles in films like The Dirty Dozen, Ice Station Zebra, and Kenner. He was also a prominent civil rights figure during the 1960s and dedicated to Black business empowerment. He died in May 2023 at age 87.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: James Nathaniel Brown
BORN: February 17, 1936
DIED: May 18, 2023
BIRTHPLACE: St. Simons Island, Georgia
SPOUSES: Sue Brown (1959-1972) and Monique Brown (1997-2013)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius
Early Years and Education
Born on February 17, 1936, on St. Simons Island, off the southern coast of Georgia, James Nathaniel Brown experienced a childhood shaped by struggle. He was just two weeks old when his father abandoned the family. His mother soon departed from his life as well, taking a job as a maid in Manhasset, New York, and leaving the care of her young son in the hands of Brown’s great-grandmother.
Brown was 8 years old when his mother finally sent for him to come live with her in New York. In his new home, Brown did well, thriving on the football field for the largely white Manhasset High School. During his senior year, the young running back averaged an astonishing 14.9 yards per carry, more than good enough to earn him a spot at Syracuse University.
In college in the mid-1950s, Brown dominated the competition, both on the football field and on the basketball court. He also ran track and was a talented lacrosse player.
As a running back, Brown earned national attention for his strong, explosive play. In the final regular-season game of his senior year, Brown capped off his college career by rushing for 197 yards, scoring six touchdowns, and kicking seven extra points.
Pro Career and Stats
In 1957, the Cleveland Browns selected Brown with the sixth overall pick in the NFL draft. Brown wasted little time adjusting to the new competition, leading the league in rushing yards with 942 on his way to capturing NFL Rookie of the Year honors.
Over the next seven seasons, Brown became the standard-bearer for all NFL running backs. At a time when defenses were geared toward stopping the ground game, Brown bulldozed his way past the opposition, posting remarkable season 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 rushed for 996 yards. It was the one season in his brilliant but brief football career in which he failed to lead the league in yards.
In 1964, Brown steered Cleveland to the NFL championship, where the club routed Baltimore to win the title, 27-0. In the game, Brown ran for 114 yards.
But Brown saw a life for himself outside of football, and before the start of the 1966 season, he stunned the sports world by announcing his retirement. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
Movie Career
Just 30 years old when he stepped away from the game, Brown wanted to use his post-football life to focus on a movie career. While some doubted he would stay away from the game for long, Brown stayed true to his word, leaving football for good and going on to appear in more than 30 films, including The Dirty Dozen (1967) and 100 Rifles (1969). His later credits include parts in Mars Attacks! (1996) and Any Given Sunday (1999), in which he played a football coach.
Activism and Controversies
Along with his acting ambitions, Brown sought to use his fame and influence to amplify African American causes and fight against racial discrimination in his own way. In the 1960s, he threw his support behind Black-owned businesses by helping to create the Negro Industrial Economic Union. He was also connected to other civil rights leader of the era: Black nationalist Malcolm X, musician Sam Cooke, and boxer Muhammad Ali. The four were together on the 1964 night that Ali became the heavyweight champion of the world, and that meeting inspired the play and subsequent 2020 Regina King film One Night in Miami.
In the late 1980s, he started the Amer-I-Can program, which aimed to turn the lives around of young gang members. He became fiercely critical of superstar Black athletes of the time, such as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, for not being better role models.
But trouble also followed the temperamental Brown. In 1968, he was accused of throwing his then-girlfriend off a second-story balcony. The following year, he managed to escape charges that alleged he assaulted another man following a traffic accident. More recently, in 1999, Brown was convicted of smashing the window of his wife’s car. After refusing to attend counseling, Brown served a six-month jail sentence in 2002.
Later Years and Honors
Brown served as executive adviser to the Browns from 2005 to 2010 and later was named special adviser to his old club. In 2016, he was honored with a statue outside Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium.
In 2002, Brown was named the greatest football player of all time by The Sporting News. In January 2020, during halftime of the college football national championship game, he was recognized as the top college football player ever.
Death
Brown died on May 18, 2023, at age 87 inside his home in Los Angeles with his second wife, Monique, at his side.
Quotes
- God ain’t got nothing to do with winning a damn football game.
- I didn’t think that non-violence was a solution to the problem of inequality in America. So I thought economic development, and a sense of cultural power, would be a better way to fight. Because capitalism in America was riding high, and you need resources.
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Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff in 2023, and before that had worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University, an avid sports fan, a frequent moviegoer, and trivia buff.
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