Sad news from the football world today. One of the greatest players in NFL history, Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown, has died. He was 87 years old. His wife Monique announced his death on a Instagram post earlier today.
"To the world he was an activist, actor, and football star," the post stated. "To our family he was a loving and wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. Our hearts are broken..."
Brown was considered the greatest running back in history at the time he was an active player, and was still considered one of the best to ever take the field at any position right to the present day. He played on the Browns from 1957 until 1965, and led the league in rushing for eight of those seasons.
Just how good was he? This is a brief summary from ESPN (see link below):
He rushed for 12,312 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry over his career. He also was named a Pro Bowler every year he played. He led the Browns to the league championship game three times, winning the title in 1964, and was named MVP three times.
He ran for at least 100 yards in 58 of his 118 regular-season games, never missing a game. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in seven seasons, including 1,527 yards in one 12-game season and 1,863 in a 14-game season.
As his wife mentioned when announcing the death of the former NFL great, Brown was also an activist. He tried to help the black community during the Civil Rights movement, and he organized "The Cleveland Summit" in the late 60's, bringing together some of the most iconic black athletes of the time in order to support Muhammad Ali's fight to avoid going to the Vietnam war that was raging at the time. In later decades, he was active in trying to reduce gang violence in Los Angeles in the late 80's. Brown also encouraged other black athletes to be active in improving living conditions in the black community.
The Cleveland Browns organization responded, honoring the memory of the man who is likely their greatest and most iconic player:
"It's impossible to describe the profound love and and gratitude we feel for having the opportunity to be a small piece of Jim's incredible life and legacy," the Browns said in a statement. "We mourn his passing, but celebrate the indelible light he brought to the world.
"Our hearts are with Jim's family, loved ones, and all those he impacted along the way."
RIP, Jim Brown, 1936 - 2023.
All of the quotes and much of the specific information, including the statistics, used in this blog entry were taken from this ESPN article:
Jim Brown, one of football's greatest ever, dies at 87 play ESPN News Services May 19, 2023:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/37685864/all-great-running-back-jim-brown-dies-87
No comments:
Post a Comment