Jim Brown is a former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns, from 1957 to 1965. He is considered to be one of the greatest professional athletes the US has ever produced. Brown attended Syracuse University, where he was the second leading rusher on the football team. In his senior year, Brown as a unanimous first-team All-American and finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy voting, setting school records for highest rush average and most rushing touchdowns. Brown was successful as a multi-sport athlete. In addition to his football accomplishments, he excelled in basketball, track, and especially lacrosse. In his senior year, he was named a first-team All-American in lacrosse and ranked second in scoring nationally. Brown was selected in the first round of the 1956 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. He is the only rusher in NFL history to average over 100 yards per game for a career. Perhaps the most amazing feat is that Brown accomplished all of his records despite never playing past 29 years of age. He was known for being very difficult to tackle, often requiring more than one person to bring him down. Brown began his acting career in 1964, and is credited with becoming “the first black action star,” thanks to roles like the Marine captain he portrayed in the hit 1968 film Ice Station Zebra. From 1977-78, Brown served as a color analyst on NFL telecasts for CBS, and in 1993 was hired as a color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a role he occupied for the first six pay-per-view events. In 1988, Brown founded the Amer-I-Can Program, a life management skills organization that operates in inner cities and prisons. Through the program, Brown works with kids caught up in the gang scene in Los Angeles and Cleveland. As of 2008, Brown was serving as an Executive Advisor to the Cleveland Browns, assisting to build relationships with the team’s players and to further enhance the NFL’s wide range of sponsored programs through the team’s player programs department.
