GOAT Jim Brown Turns 85

[oldgrappler]

As you can imagine, I could go on and on about the prowess of Jim Brown on the football field.  Suffice it to say, on his 85th birthday, I think he is the greatest RB to ever play the game and perhaps the greatest football player, period.  I have data to back up my opinion.  But that would make for a very long entry.  

So, I will just include 3 numbers that speak to his greatness.  These numbers are: 5.2, 104.3, and 0.  

1.  5.2 is his yards per carry.  No one could match that figure during the era when football was about the run and every defense lined up to stop him.  He just would not go down (or step out of bounds).  This toughness was part of the reason he held the record for rushing TDs at 106 for so long.  As Eagles Iron Man Chuck Bednarik once said, "Nobody drug more men into the end zone from 2 yards out than Jim Brown."  

2.  104.3 is the number of yards he averaged per game throughout his career.  No other player is above 100 yards per game.  Barry Sanders is at 99 yards per game.  Jim Brown gained over 100 yards in 58 of the 118 regular season games in which he played.  Keep in mind, the first 4 seasons of his career the league played 12 games in a season.  The last 5 were 14 game seasons.  He only missed gaining 1,000 yards in a season his rookie year (942 yards) and in 1962 (996 yards) when he was hampered by an arm injury (though he kept playing).  His 12,312 career yards stood for a looong time.  

3.  0 is the number of games he missed in his 9 season career.  It is also the number of practices he missed in his career.  This is an astounding number considering the punishment he delivered and took on almost every carry.  He was mentally tough, to say the least.  It is why he made his way to his feet and back to the huddle slowly after every play.  He didn't want the opposing players to know when he was hurting.  He showed no weakness.  He also refused to miss practice because he didn't want his teammates, who were counting on his 104.3 yards per game, to lose confidence if he were injured.  He kept it to himself.  

The last thing I would point out is that in an era when racism was more overt than now, Jim Brown demanded to be treated like a man.  He has spent his life trying to help young men make good choices about their future and achieve their full potential.  See his Amer-I-Can program.  

If you would like to read more about his remarkable accomplishments and some other interesting facts concerning his life, movies, etc., go to this link:  Interesting Info Re:Jim Brown

 

[CincySportsFan]

Michael Jordan also shares the same birthday.  Can any other date claim two such prestigious stars?

[brown4]

12 hours ago, CincySportsFan said:

Michael Jordan also shares the same birthday.  Can any other date claim two such prestigious stars?

December 30th, Lebron and Tiger.

[CincySportsFan]

10 hours ago, brown4 said:

December 30th, Lebron and Tiger.

Okay, besides that.  🤣

Seriously, that's one heck of a debate there.

[Runcible Owl]

On 2/17/2021 at 10:17 AM, oldgrappler said:

 

If you would like to read more about his remarkable accomplishments and some other interesting facts concerning his life, movies, etc., go to this link:  Interesting Info Re:Jim Brown

 

 

Imagine Jim Brown coming at you with a stick. He was a 1st Team All-american in lacrosse too, so dominant they instituted "The James Brown Rule," that forever changed the game.

I'd heard it said, that he is considered history's greatest American lacrosse player. This is a great Sports Illustrated article on the man who said, if he could have made football money playing lacrosse, he'd have chosen the game he loved the most, LAX.

https://www-si-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.si.com/.amp/nfl/2016/02/17/jim-brown-nfl-hall-fame-syracuse-lacrosse?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16154761722497&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2F2016%2F02%2F17%2Fjim-brown-nfl-hall-fame-syracuse-lacrosse