The NFL and the sports world in general lost a true giant when the legendary Jim Brown passed away on Thursday night at the age of 87.
He was a dominant running back in the late 1950s and 1960s for the Cleveland Browns, and many of those who were lucky enough to see him play still consider him to be the greatest running back ever, if not the greatest player ever.
He retired with a number of league records, and Jake Trotter, who covers the Browns for ESPN, reminded everyone of some of Brown’s accomplishments.
Jim Brown:
* Never missed a game in his career
* Ran for at least 100 yards in 58 of his 118 regular-season games
* Still an NFL-best 8 rushing titles
* Only non-QB to win 3 NFL MVPs
* Ranked the 4th greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN
via @ESPNStatsInfo #Browns— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) May 19, 2023
As a rookie in 1957, Brown ran for 942 yards and nine touchdowns, and he would finish under 1,000 yards for a season only once afterward in 1962 when he was four yards shy of that mark.
He made the Pro Bowl in each of his nine seasons and the All-Pro first-team in all but one of those campaigns, and he is still the only NFL player to average at least 100 rushing yards a game for his career.
Brown also led Cleveland to their last NFL championship in 1964, and he helped put the fledgling league on the map at a time when America’s sporting landscape was dominated by Major League Baseball.
He was a physical behemoth by 1960s standards (he stood 6-foot-2 and weighed about 230 pounds) who was nearly impossible to tackle.
Off the field, Brown appeared in many films spanning six different decades, and he also became a civil right icon who helped advance the cause of civil rights for Black individuals.
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