As originally aired on the Rochester Press Box
Was there ever a more complex athlete than Jim Brown, who died this past week at the age of 87?
Consider that Brown was raised on Long Island by secondary family members. His mother absent. His father never mentioned. An athletic resume that included playing water polo in high school, can you imagine, pointed him toward Syracuse University. He earned letters in four sports. Considered the greatest lacrosse player ever by many, they changed the rules of the game in his honor. Football was his meal ticket, even while playing for a coach in Ben Schwartzwalder who didn’t really want him. Thought the Black athlete was too much trouble. Until he got too good.
Brown once scored 43 points in a game for Syracuse. Six touchdowns and seven extra points against Colgate in 1956. Led the nation in touchdowns and kick returns. Drafted sixth overall by the Cleveland Browns in ’57, in his ninth game as a rookie, he ran for a record 237 yards. In a nine-year career, Jim Brown led the league in rushing eight times, won three MVPs, and left the game as its leader in single season and career yards. He had the speed to run past tacklers and the power to run through them. He preferred the latter. And never missed a game.
Then in 1966, while shooting the film ‘The Dirty Dozen’ in England, Browns owner Art Modell threatened to fine him a hundred dollars a day for missing training camp. So, at age 30, at the height of his abilities, rather than pay the fine, Brown retired from football. Said he needed to do something more mentally challenging.
He became a civil rights activist on a par with Bill Rusell and was a mentor to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Worked tirelessly against gang violence with the street cred to get results.
Yet there was a long history of domestic violence. Six arrests. Once given a choice between violence counseling, community service or jail, Brown chose to be locked up for four months.
He picked football over lacrosse and the Olympics. Acting over football. A civil rights activist who supported Presidents Nixon and Trump, who famously, were not. Preached respect and dignity. Yet he assaulted women. Unapologetic to the end.
Columnist Leonard Greene of the Daily News says it best. “Life is complicated and so was Jim Brown. The bad was very bad. The good was exceptional. We don’t have to choose between the two.”
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