Brown Can Still Attract a Crowd

When he played professional football, Jim Brown always attracted a crowd–both on and off the field. He gave it everything he had on each and every snap, and he never missed a play. Five decades later, the man considered one of the greatest sports figures of the 20th Century applied that same zeal and concentration to his role as grand marshal of this year’s Pacific Palisades Fourth of July Parade–and, once again, he scored the winning touchdown. “To me, this is a real honor–something you jump at the chance to do,” said Brown, who was accompanied by his wife Monique, son Aris (8) and daughter Morgan (7). “I’m absolutely delighted.” The Browns live above the Sunset Strip in the Hollywood Hills, but they are no strangers to the Palisades. “I used to come here and swim at the beach with the kids,” Jim said. And Monique added: “We’ve come here periodically. We enjoy the Palisades very much.” One of the first people waiting for Brown when he arrived at the Pacific Palisades United Methodist Church before the VIP luncheon was Charlie Meister, founder of the L.A. Lacrosse League, who had Brown sign several sticks and a black-and-white photograph of Brown at Syracuse University, where he starred in football, basketball, track and lacrosse: “The guy is a legend so it’s kind of him to sign stuff for our inner city program,” Meister said. “We’ll be working with his Amer-I-Can Foundation so I’m thrilled.” During his junior season at Syracuse, Brown was named a second-team All-American in lacrosse. Then, his senior year (1956-57) he made first-team All-American and his 43 goals in 10 games ranked second in the nation. The only person enshrined in the pro football, college football and lacrosse halls of fame, Brown was an all-star midfielder in lacrosse at Manhasset High School on Long Island. “I loved lacrosse and the best thing it gave me was conditioning,” Brown said. “It kept me in great shape and it was also very physical, just like football.” Next to greet the sports icon was local resident Barbara Smith along with her great- nephew, 13-year-old Jacob Alexander of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who was in town visiting. His grandfather, Sam Alexander (Smith’s brother-in-law) was Brown’s teammate at Syracuse and is even mentioned in Brown’s 1989 autobiography “Out of Bounds.” In fact, both of them were running backs on the football team–Alexander a senior and Brown only a sophomore. “It’s great to meet him because my grandfather is always talking about him,” Alexander said. “Sam was a great, great competitor… very smart, very scientific,” Brown remembered. When he retired in 1966 at the age of 30, Brown was the National Football League record-holder in single-season rushing yards (1,863 in 1963) career rushing yards (12,312), rushing touchdowns (106), total touchdowns (126) and all-purpose yards (15,549). His career rushing record was finally surpassed in 1984 by Walter Payton, but Brown still ranks eighth on the all-time list even though he played only nine seasons, all with the Cleveland Browns. “I have no regrets about walking away when I did,” Brown said. “I’m happy I left in my prime and didn’t stay too long. I accomplished everything I wanted to. We won the championship in 1964, we were runner-up in 1965 and I was MVP my last season. That speaks for itself. I could leave without having to explain myself.” Asked to name his proudest accomplishment as a football player, Brown said it wasn’t his 5.2 yards-per-carry average (still the highest in league history), his three Most Valuable Player awards, his eight rushing titles or his nine Pro Bowl berths. It wasn’t being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971, nor was it the fact that he did not miss a game his entire career. No, the two things he cherishes most are winning the NFL championship and the respect he received from his opponents. “That [1964] championship was such a perfect example of teamwork,” Brown said. “Not just on offense, but defense too. We shut out [quarterback] Johnny Unitas, which wasn’t easy to do. We had a potent passing attack and knew their defense was going to stack against our run. We had several of what we called ‘attitude plays’ that we could run at any time, no matter what defense they ran against us.” In the first NFL title game to be televised by CBS, Brown rushed 21 times for 114 yards as Cleveland crushed the Baltimore Colts, 27-0. Brown possessed a unique blend of power, speed and agility that made him the premier ball carrier of his day. In 2002, the Sporting News named him the greatest professional football player in history. Yet on July 4 he hesitated to compare himself to greats from other eras: “I don’t like to do that because the game is constantly changing. I just admire individual talent. When you think of someone like Earl Campbell you immediately associate him with power and explosiveness. Other guys, like Gale Sayers and Eric Dickerson, were poetry in motion. With Walter Payton it was sheer heart and willpower. All great runners have their own characteristics that make them great.” Now 74, Brown is still an astute observer of the game. Among his favorite active players to watch are running back Adrian Peterson, linebacker Ray Lewis and quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Drew Brees and especially Brett Favre, whom he called “a freak of nature.” Brown thinks the way football is marketed and the product presented today has improved tremendously, but the game sometimes is being shortchanged: “Money is the driving force in the game now and agents are looking out for their players but not necessarily the player’s team. Money is not something that should be No. 1 in anyone’s life. Look at all of the millionaires who are unhappy or in trouble. Quality of life is what’s important.” Considered a “throwback” player, Brown bristles at the idea that athletes of his generation were not as good. “When you deal with a classic car that’s built with care, part by part, you take a lot of pride in it because it’s well-made,” Brown said. “Now if you buy a new car, it’s made of paper mache but it has all the technology and you can get any [radio] station you want. It is what it is. Old or new, it’s all good.” While eating lunch and mingling before the parade, Brown shared numerous stories from his life and career, like the friendship he formed with another iconic sports figure of the 1960s and 70s, boxer Muhammad Ali. Brown was one of the first athletes to publicly support Ali when he was stripped of his world heavyweight title for refusing to be inducted into the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. “It was the right thing to do because you could see Ali was sincere in his religious beliefs,” Brown said. “I was the color commentator at ringside for several of his fights, including the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire against George Foreman when Ali won back the title. I remember thinking Foreman would kill him. I even told Ali ‘You can’t beat that guy!’ And he said ‘Just you watch.’ Afterwards he said ‘So, what do you think of that, big boy, huh?’ He just had tremendous confidence and belief in himself. The only thing I didn’t like is that he went a bit too far with his cruel comments toward Joe Frazier.” In 1988, Brown founded Amer-I-Can, a life-management skills organization that operates in inner cities and prisons to combat the gang problems in Cleveland and Los Angeles. More than 20 years later he remains active in both voice and action. “We walk into schools and bring kids’ grades up,” Brown said. “Not just me, everyone involved. We’ve done some great work.” Regarding his acting career, Brown named “Dirty Dozen” and “100 Rifles” as two of his favorite roles. He went on to co-star in films such as “Three the Hard Way,” “Take a Hard Ride,” “One Down, Two to Go,” “Original Gangstas” and “On the Edge” along with fellow pro football player-turned-movie star Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson. During the luncheon, Brown was besieged by parents asking him to pose for pictures, autograph footballs and jerseys for their children, or merely wanting to shake his hand. Yet he patiently obliged every request as he stood in the middle of Via de la Paz waiting to climb into the back seat of the car that he and his family would ride in the parade. Just as he always did on the football field, Brown gave it his best as grand marshal–and the crowd cheered. His family seemed to enjoy the experience just as much as he did. “We’re very family-oriented,” Monique said. “It’s great to be here. I used to come to parades with my dad when I was a kid. It’s an honor to share this patriotic day with the community.”