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Football Legends
Jim Brown
Traces the life and career of the best NFL running back of all time, and discusses his work as a film actor and social activist
64 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 8, 2019
In any informed discussion of the greatest players in National Football League history, Jim Brown has to feature prominently. A monster of a fullback who plowed over defensive lines and linebackers, Brown was one of the most durable and dominant superstars in any sport, setting records that lasted decades after his playing days ended. Born February 17 (the same day as Michael Jordan), 1936 in Georgia, James Nathaniel Brown's father left when his son was little. The boy's mother moved by herself to New York to get a job, so Jim was raised by his great-grandmother the first eight years of his life. By high school he showed extraordinary talent at lacrosse, basketball, baseball, track, and football, lettering in thirteen sports and (mostly) staying out of trouble in his personal life. He had his choice of sporting careers but felt drawn to the "physicality and excitement" of football, a sport that forty-five colleges offered him a full scholarship to play for them. Bucking conventional wisdom, Brown turned down Ohio State and chose Syracuse University, where his athletic career was about to begin in earnest.
Brown struggled to fit in at Syracuse. School officials feared he might be an attitude problem because he was a black man. NCAA rules prohibited freshman from playing in official games, so the only way Brown could prove his talent was in practices. Even as a sophomore his coaches doubted he could succeed as a running back on the collegiate level and urged him to switch positions, but Brown held firm and eventually earned an opportunity. Once the coaches witnessed his dominance on the field, all talk of changing positions went away. Brown piled up rush yards and touchdowns at a surreal pace on his way to multiple All-American seasons. He also excelled at other sports, particularly lacrosse, where his overwhelming physicality made him arguably the greatest to ever play. By the time he graduated Syracuse, the NFL was more than ready for Brown to join their ranks.
Led by Otto Graham, perhaps the best quarterback who has ever lived, the Cleveland Browns were pro football's premier team in the 1940s and '50s. But Graham retired in 1955 and the team's fortunes briefly declined before Jim Brown took center stage in 1957. His raw athleticism blew away all competitors for the starting fullback job, and while most stars require an adjustment period before ascending to peak domination, Brown looked like a Hall of Famer the first time he stepped on an NFL gridiron. In one game, the rookie trampled the Los Angeles Rams for two hundred thirty-seven rush yards, an NFL record, and rushed for nine hundred forty-two yards and nine touchdowns on the season, both league bests. Brown won the Most Valuable Player award and started in the NFL championship game, which Cleveland lost to the Detroit Lions, but Brown's career could scarcely have begun more auspiciously.
Otherworldly performances became the norm for Brown. In 1958 he broke the NFL record for most rush yards in a season (1,527), and led all of football with seventeen rush touchdowns. He took home a second MVP trophy, but couldn't help his team win the championship. In 1959 he again posted monster numbers, running roughshod over all-time great defenders with apparent ease. Brown led the NFL in rushing for a fourth straight season in 1960. Most of those years Cleveland lost to the vaunted New York Giants in the playoffs, but rarely was Jim Brown's contribution to the team questioned. He married in 1958 and started speaking out in the 1960s about social issues affecting black Americans, but though this made people around the NFL uncomfortable, Brown's productivity on the field forced them to swallow their objections. Brown put up his usual gaudy numbers in 1961, tying his own record for rush yards in a single game, but if his career ever had a hiccup, it was 1962. Playing much of the schedule with a broken wrist, Brown's numbers more closely resembled those of a human football star. The team floundered, and legendary head coach Paul Brown's job was in jeopardy. Was it time for a new leader? Even Jim Brown believed a change might be in order.
After Paul Brown's firing by Art Modell, who had taken over as owner only a few years before, the 1963 Cleveland Browns resurged, and Jim Brown had his signature season. Piling up twelve rush touchdowns and an NFL record 1,863 rush yards, Brown won his third MVP. He ran for more than a hundred yards in nine different games, twice exceeding two hundred. The domineering fullback showed no signs of wearing down at age twenty-eight in 1964, posting his typical stat line and leading Cleveland against Johnny Unitas's favored Baltimore Colts in the NFL championship. Jim Brown gave a solid performance and the underdog Browns rolled to victory, 27-0. The championship, Jim Brown's only one, further validated his legacy. In 1965 Brown won a fourth MVP, leading the NFL in rushing for the eighth time in his nine seasons. Cleveland came up short against the Green Bay Packers in a muddy championship game, and it was the last time Jim Brown ever took the field. He retired in early 1966 at age thirty, ready to put his energy into the next phase of life. Retirement would not be the end of his vibrant, challenging lifestyle.
Almost as famous for his movie acting career as for his years in the NFL, Brown drove public discourse on topics ranging from Hollywood gossip to American politics, but the enduring debate centers on his football legacy. As of this book's 1995 publication, Brown still held the career touchdowns record (one hundred twenty-six), a number since surpassed by numerous players (including Marcus Allen, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, and Terrell Owens), but Brown's legacy was more than numbers. His domination of even the best defensive players lasted his entire career, and never did the gap in physical superiority between one player and everyone else seem more obvious than with Brown. Bronko Nagurski, Gale Sayers, O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, and others can be argued as the greatest ever, but it's doubtful any running back has or will equal Brown's overpowering presence on the field. As sports journalist and later children's author Mike Lupica commented in a 1989 piece, "Tell me that anyone was better than Jim Brown at carrying the football and I will tell you that you are wrong." This book isn't an in-depth work on Brown's life or career, but it's a decent biography for young readers, and author G.S. Prentzas writes about Brown without bias despite Prentzas being an admitted Cleveland Browns fan. Kids desiring to deepen their knowledge of football history would do well to read this book.
Brown struggled to fit in at Syracuse. School officials feared he might be an attitude problem because he was a black man. NCAA rules prohibited freshman from playing in official games, so the only way Brown could prove his talent was in practices. Even as a sophomore his coaches doubted he could succeed as a running back on the collegiate level and urged him to switch positions, but Brown held firm and eventually earned an opportunity. Once the coaches witnessed his dominance on the field, all talk of changing positions went away. Brown piled up rush yards and touchdowns at a surreal pace on his way to multiple All-American seasons. He also excelled at other sports, particularly lacrosse, where his overwhelming physicality made him arguably the greatest to ever play. By the time he graduated Syracuse, the NFL was more than ready for Brown to join their ranks.
Led by Otto Graham, perhaps the best quarterback who has ever lived, the Cleveland Browns were pro football's premier team in the 1940s and '50s. But Graham retired in 1955 and the team's fortunes briefly declined before Jim Brown took center stage in 1957. His raw athleticism blew away all competitors for the starting fullback job, and while most stars require an adjustment period before ascending to peak domination, Brown looked like a Hall of Famer the first time he stepped on an NFL gridiron. In one game, the rookie trampled the Los Angeles Rams for two hundred thirty-seven rush yards, an NFL record, and rushed for nine hundred forty-two yards and nine touchdowns on the season, both league bests. Brown won the Most Valuable Player award and started in the NFL championship game, which Cleveland lost to the Detroit Lions, but Brown's career could scarcely have begun more auspiciously.
Otherworldly performances became the norm for Brown. In 1958 he broke the NFL record for most rush yards in a season (1,527), and led all of football with seventeen rush touchdowns. He took home a second MVP trophy, but couldn't help his team win the championship. In 1959 he again posted monster numbers, running roughshod over all-time great defenders with apparent ease. Brown led the NFL in rushing for a fourth straight season in 1960. Most of those years Cleveland lost to the vaunted New York Giants in the playoffs, but rarely was Jim Brown's contribution to the team questioned. He married in 1958 and started speaking out in the 1960s about social issues affecting black Americans, but though this made people around the NFL uncomfortable, Brown's productivity on the field forced them to swallow their objections. Brown put up his usual gaudy numbers in 1961, tying his own record for rush yards in a single game, but if his career ever had a hiccup, it was 1962. Playing much of the schedule with a broken wrist, Brown's numbers more closely resembled those of a human football star. The team floundered, and legendary head coach Paul Brown's job was in jeopardy. Was it time for a new leader? Even Jim Brown believed a change might be in order.
After Paul Brown's firing by Art Modell, who had taken over as owner only a few years before, the 1963 Cleveland Browns resurged, and Jim Brown had his signature season. Piling up twelve rush touchdowns and an NFL record 1,863 rush yards, Brown won his third MVP. He ran for more than a hundred yards in nine different games, twice exceeding two hundred. The domineering fullback showed no signs of wearing down at age twenty-eight in 1964, posting his typical stat line and leading Cleveland against Johnny Unitas's favored Baltimore Colts in the NFL championship. Jim Brown gave a solid performance and the underdog Browns rolled to victory, 27-0. The championship, Jim Brown's only one, further validated his legacy. In 1965 Brown won a fourth MVP, leading the NFL in rushing for the eighth time in his nine seasons. Cleveland came up short against the Green Bay Packers in a muddy championship game, and it was the last time Jim Brown ever took the field. He retired in early 1966 at age thirty, ready to put his energy into the next phase of life. Retirement would not be the end of his vibrant, challenging lifestyle.
Almost as famous for his movie acting career as for his years in the NFL, Brown drove public discourse on topics ranging from Hollywood gossip to American politics, but the enduring debate centers on his football legacy. As of this book's 1995 publication, Brown still held the career touchdowns record (one hundred twenty-six), a number since surpassed by numerous players (including Marcus Allen, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, and Terrell Owens), but Brown's legacy was more than numbers. His domination of even the best defensive players lasted his entire career, and never did the gap in physical superiority between one player and everyone else seem more obvious than with Brown. Bronko Nagurski, Gale Sayers, O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, and others can be argued as the greatest ever, but it's doubtful any running back has or will equal Brown's overpowering presence on the field. As sports journalist and later children's author Mike Lupica commented in a 1989 piece, "Tell me that anyone was better than Jim Brown at carrying the football and I will tell you that you are wrong." This book isn't an in-depth work on Brown's life or career, but it's a decent biography for young readers, and author G.S. Prentzas writes about Brown without bias despite Prentzas being an admitted Cleveland Browns fan. Kids desiring to deepen their knowledge of football history would do well to read this book.
September 16, 2008
i am reading a true story about a man name jim brown and he is a very good football player.he retire at a young age.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews