BROWN, JIM

born Feb. 17, 1936, St. Simons, Ga., U.S. Brown, 1957 byname of James Nathaniel Brown outstanding fullback in U.S. professional football who led the National Football League (NFL) in rushing (running with the ball) for eight of his nine seasons. In high school and at Syracuse University, New York, Brown, excelled in basketball, baseball, track, and lacrosse as well as football, and he was thought to be a potential world heavyweight champion in boxing. From 1957 through 1965 he played for the Cleveland Browns of the NFL, and he led the league in rushing yardage every year except 1962. In each of seven seasons he gained at least 1,000 yards by rushing. He established NFL single-season records by rushing for 1,527 yards in 1958 (12-game schedule) and 1,863 yards in 1963 (14-game schedule). In 1958 and again in 1963, he rushed for 100 or more yards in each of nine games (six consecutively in 1958). On Nov. 24, 1957, he set an NFL record by rushing for 237 yards in a single game, and he equaled that total on Nov. 19, 1961. At the close of his career, he had scored 126 touchdowns, 106 by rushing, had gained a record 12,312 yards in 2,359 rushing attempts for an average of 5.22 yards, and had a record combined yardage (rushing along with pass receptions) of 15,459 yards. Brown's rushing and combined yardage records stood until 1984, when both were surpassed by Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears. After retiring from football, Brown became a motion-picture actor and a leader of a movement to increase black participation in U.S. business and industry. He appeared in many action and adventure films, among them The Dirty Dozen (1967) and 100 Rifles (1969).