Jim Brown

 Jim Brown was born February 17, 1936 in St. Simons Island, GA.  At eight years of age, his family moved to Manhasset, NY where his mother worked as a domestic.

Jim Brown attended Manhasset High School where he excelled at football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball and track.  In 1953, he matriculated at Syracuse University, a mere 40 miles (65 KM) from my hometown, Oswego, NY.  As such Jim Brown and the Syracuse Orange became my favorite college football team.  I was able to listen to their games on the radio.

After his freshman year, Jim Brown became the star running back on the 1954, 1955 and 1956 Syracuse teams.  As a sophomore he was the second-leading rusher on the team. As a junior, Jim Brown rushed for 676 yards (5.2 per carry). In his senior year, he was a consensus first-team All-American. 

Jim Brown finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and set school records for highest season rush average (6.2) and most rushing touchdowns in a single game (6). He ran for 986 yards, third-most in the country despite Syracuse playing only eight games and scored 14 touchdowns. 

Then on New Years Day in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Jim Brown rushed for 132 yards, scored three touchdowns, and kicked three extra points in a 28-27 loss to TCU.  He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Perhaps most impressive was his success as a multisport athlete at Syracuse.   In addition to his football accomplishments, Jim Brown excelled in basketball, track, and especially lacrosse.  He is in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

In the NFL draft, Jim Brown was chosen by the Cleveland Browns (named for their coach Paul Brown).  In those years, Cleveland was the arch rival of my favorite team, the New York Football Giants.  Thus, he went from being on my favorite college team to being on my least favorite NFL team.

During his nine year NFL career (1957-1965), the Giants & Browns had many battles and Jim Brown broke my heart many times.  However, I can't deny his greatness.  I was happy for him when his Browns beat the Baltimore Colts in 1964 to become NFL champions.  

I was privileged to have seen Jim Brown in person three times:  against the Giants in Yankee Stadium in 1962 (Browns lost 17-13), the Philadelphia Eagles at Franklin Field in 1964 (Browns won 28-20) and again in 1965 (Browns won 35-17).  The night before the '64 game I saw him walking on the street in Center City Philadelphia while my brother Paul and I were on our way to a movie theater where some of his teammates sat in front of us.  

In 1966, Jim Brown was in the UK filming the movie The Dirty Dozen along with Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Ernest Borgnine, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savales and Donald Sutherland.  As a result of some production delays, he was late in returning to the Browns for their pre-season practices.  In an attempt to force him to return ASAP, the team fined him for his lateness.  In response, Jim Brown retired from football.

His name appears many times in the NFL record book, despite only playing nine years at a time when the schedule was at the most 14 games per season (today 17).  Jim Brown is the only running back in NFL history to average over 100 yards per game for a career.  He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  I and many others consider Jim Brown the greatest running back of all time.