By TOM WITHERS (AP Sports Writer)
Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown, the unstoppable working again who retired on the peak of his sensible profession to change into an actor in addition to a outstanding civil rights advocate throughout the Nineteen Sixties, has died. He was 87.
A spokeswoman for Brown’s household stated he handed away peacefully in his Los Angeles house on Thursday evening together with his spouse, Monique, by his facet.
One of the best gamers in soccer historical past and one of many recreation’s first superstars, Brown was chosen the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1965 and shattered the league’s report books in a brief profession spanning 1957-65.
Brown led the Cleveland Browns to their final NFL title in 1964 earlier than retiring in his prime after the ’65 season to change into an actor. He appeared in additional than 30 movies, together with “Any Given Sunday” and “The Dirty Dozen.”
An unstoppable runner with energy, pace and endurance, Brown’s arrival sparked the sport’s burgeoning reputation on tv.
As Black Americans fought for equality, Brown used his platform and voice to advance their trigger.
In 1967, Brown organized a gathering in Cleveland of the nation’s prime Black athletes, together with Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor, who later turned Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to assist boxer Muhammad Ali’s struggle in opposition to the battle in Vietnam.
In later years, he labored to curb gang violence in LA and based Amer-I-Can, a program to assist deprived inner-city youth and ex-convicts.
On the sector, there was nobody like Brown, who would blast by way of would-be tacklers, refusing to let one man take him down earlier than sprinting away from linebackers and defensive backs. He was additionally well-known for utilizing a stiff arm to shed defenders within the open area or push them away like they have been rag dolls.
“My arms were like my protectors and weapons,” Brown stated throughout an interview with NFL Films.
Indeed, Brown was not like any again earlier than him, and a few really feel there has by no means been anybody higher than Cleveland’s incomparable No. 32. At 6-foot-2, 230 kilos, he was dominant, relentless and with out mercy, his spotlight reels that includes runs round and proper by way of opponents, preventing for each yard, dragging a number of defenders alongside or discovering holes the place none appeared to exist.
After Brown was tackled, he’d slowly rise and stroll much more slowly again to the huddle — then dominate the protection when he bought the ball once more.
Off the sector, Brown was a contentious character.
While he had a tender spot for these in want, and his generosity modified lives, he additionally was arrested a half-dozen occasions, totally on fees of hitting ladies.
In June 1999, Brown’s spouse, Monique, referred to as 911, saying Brown had smashed her automotive with a shovel and threatened to kill her. During the trial, Monique Brown recanted. Jim Brown was acquitted of a cost of home threats however convicted of misdemeanor vandalism. The Los Angeles decide sentenced Brown to 6 months in jail when he refused to attend home violence counseling.
He additionally feuded with Browns coach Paul Brown and later with the staff’s administration, though he performed his total profession with Cleveland.
When his enjoying days ended, Brown set off for Hollywood and finally settled there. Brown suggested Cleveland coach Blanton Collier of his retirement whereas the staff was in coaching camp and he was on the set of “The Dirty Dozen” in England.
Among his movies have been “100 Rifles,” “Mars Attacks!” Spike Lee’s “He Got Game,” Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday,” and the satire “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” by which he parodied the blaxploitation style. In 2002, Brown was the topic of Lee’s HBO documentary “Jim Brown: All-American.”
In current years, Brown’s relationship with the Browns was inconsistent. He served as an adviser to proprietor Randy Lerner and was employed to counsel the staff’s youthful gamers. However, in 2010, Brown parted methods with the staff after having his position decreased by incoming staff president Mike Holmgren. Brown felt slighted by the perceived demotion — when the membership unveiled a “Ring of Honor” inside its downtown stadium, Brown didn’t attend the ceremony in protest.
Brown was an eight-time All-Pro and went to the Pro Bowl in every of his 9 years within the league. When Brown walked away from the sport at age 30, he held the league’s information for yards (12,312) and touchdowns (126).
And regardless of his bruising fashion, Browns by no means missed a recreation, enjoying in 118 straight.
“He told me, ‘Make sure when anyone tackles you he remembers how much it hurts,’” stated Hall of Fame tight finish John Mackey. “He lived by that philosophy and I always followed that advice.”
A two-sport star at Syracuse — some say he’s the most effective lacrosse participant in NCAA historical past — Brown endured numerous racist taunts whereas enjoying on the just about all-white college on the time. Still, he was an All-American in each sports activities, main the nation in scoring, and lettered in basketball.
Brown was the sixth total decide of the 1957 draft, becoming a member of a staff that routinely performed for the title. He was the Offensive Rookie of the Year that season.
Running behind an offensive line that includes Hall of Fame tackles Lou Groza and Mike McCormack, Brown set a league mark with 1,527 yards and scored 17 TDs on his strategy to the league’s Most Outstanding Player award — a precursor to the MVP — in 1958. Over the following three seasons, he by no means ran for lower than 1,257 yards earlier than selecting up simply 996 in 1962.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”