James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional football player, actor, and civil rights activist. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 to 1965 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history.
Football Career
Brown was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the sixth overall pick in the 1957 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he led the league in rushing with 942 yards and nine touchdowns, earning both NFL Rookie of the Year and NFL Most Valuable Player honors—the only player in league history to win both awards in the same season. Over his nine-year career, Brown led the NFL in rushing yards eight times (1957–1961, 1963–1965) and was selected to the Pro Bowl every season. He was a first-team All-Pro eight times and won three AP NFL MVP awards (1957, 1958, 1965). Brown won an NFL Championship with the Browns in 1964.
Brown retired at age 30 at the peak of his career, holding the NFL career rushing record with 12,312 yards and 106 rushing touchdowns. He remains the only player in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career (104.3 yards per game). He never missed a game in nine seasons. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
College Career
At Syracuse University, Brown was a unanimous All-American in football in 1956. He also excelled in lacrosse, earning first-team All-American honors, and lettered in basketball and track. He finished fifth in the decathlon at the 1955 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Brown was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995 and the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983.
Acting Career
Brown began acting while still playing football, making his film debut in the 1964 Western Rio Conchos. He retired from football while filming The Dirty Dozen (1967) in London. He went on to appear in more than 50 film and television projects, including Ice Station Zebra (1968), 100 Rifles (1969), Slaughter (1972), The Running Man (1987), Any Given Sunday (1999), and Mars Attacks! (1996). His role in 100 Rifles featured an interracial love scene with Raquel Welch, a first for a major Hollywood film.
Civil Rights and Activism
Brown was an outspoken advocate for civil rights. In 1966, he founded the Negro Industrial Economic Union (later the Black Economic Union) to promote economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses. In 1967, he organized the Cleveland Summit, where prominent Black athletes including Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others publicly supported Muhammad Ali after he refused induction into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. In 1988, Brown founded the Amer-I-Can Foundation, which worked to divert at-risk youth and gang members from violence by teaching life skills. Through this foundation, he helped broker the 1992 Watts truce between rival street gangs in Los Angeles.
Legal Issues and Controversies
Brown was arrested multiple times for assault, primarily against women. In 1968, he was charged with assault with intent to commit murder after model Eva Bohn-Chin was found beneath his apartment balcony; the charges were dismissed after she refused to cooperate. In 1975, he was convicted of misdemeanor battery for beating a golfing partner and sentenced to one day in jail. In 1999, he was convicted of vandalism for smashing his wife's car with a shovel and later served three months in jail after refusing court-ordered counseling and community service.
Personal Life and Death
Brown was born on St. Simons Island, Georgia. He married Sue Jones in 1959 (divorced 1972), with whom he had three children. He married Monique Gunthrop in 1997, with whom he had two children. Brown died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on May 18, 2023, at age 87.
