All-time NFL great running back, social activist Jim Brown has died at the age of 87

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Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown, the unstoppable running back who retired at the peak of his brilliant career to become an actor as well as a prominent civil rights advocate in the 1960s, has died. He is 87.

A spokesperson for the Browns family said he passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles on Thursday night with his wife, Monique, by his side.

One of the greatest players in football history and one of the game’s first superstars, Brown was selected NFLs Most Valuable Player in 1965 and shattered the leagues record books in a short career that spanned 1957-65.

Brown led the Cleveland Browns to their last NFL title in 1964 before retiring in his prime after 65 seasons to become an actor. He appeared in more than 30 films, including Any Given Sunday and The Dirty Dozen.

An unstoppable runner with power, speed and durability, Browns’ arrival ignited the game’s burgeoning televised popularity.

As Black Americans fought for equality, Brown used his platform and voice to advance their cause.

In 1967, Brown organized a meeting in Cleveland of the nations top Black athletes, including Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor, who later became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to support boxer Muhammad Alis against the war in Vietnam.

In later years, he worked to curb gang violence in LA and founded Amer-I-Can, a program to help disadvantaged inner-city youth and ex-convicts.

On the field, there’s no one like Brown, who explodes past would-be tacklers, refusing to let someone take him down before running away from linebackers and defensive backs. He’s also famous for using his stiff arm to throw defenders away in the open field or push them away like rag dolls.

My arms are like my protectors and weapons, Brown said in an interview with NFL Films.

In fact, Brown is unlike anything that has come before him, and some feel there is no one better than the incomparable No. 32 of Cleveland. At 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, he is dominant, relentless and ruthless, his highlight reels featuring runs around and right through opponents, fighting for every yard, dragging a lot defender along or finding holes where there seem to be none.

After Brown was tackled, he slowly got up and walked more slowly back to the huddle then dominated the defense when he got the ball back.

Off the field, Brown was a cantankerous character.

Although he had a soft spot for the needy, and his generosity changed lives, he was also arrested half a dozen times, mostly on charges of assaulting women.

In June 1999, Brown’s wife, Monique, called 911, saying Brown had broken into her car with a shovel and threatened to kill her. During the trial, Monique Brown recanted. Jim Brown was acquitted of domestic threats but convicted of misdemeanor vandalism. A Los Angeles judge sentenced Brown to six months in prison after he refused to attend domestic violence counseling.

He also clashed with Browns coach Paul Brown and later with the teams management, although he played his entire career in Cleveland.

When his playing days were over, Brown left Hollywood and eventually settled there. Brown advised Cleveland coach Blanton Collier of his retirement while the team was in training camp and he was on the set of The Dirty Dozen in England.

His films include 100 Rifles, Mars Attacks! Spike Lees He Got Game, Oliver Stones Any Given Sunday, and the satire Im Gonna Git You Sucka, where he pokes fun at the blaxploitation genre. In 2002, Brown was the subject of Lees HBO documentary Jim Brown: All-American.

In recent years, Brown’s relationship with the Browns has been strained. He served as an advisor to owner Randy Lerner and was hired to advise the teams younger players. However, in 2010, Brown parted ways with the team after his role was reduced by incoming team president Mike Holmgren. Feeling resentful of the perceived slight when the club unveiled a Ring of Honor inside its downtown stadium, Brown did not attend the ceremony in protest.

Brown was an eight-time All-Pro and went to the Pro Bowl in each of his nine years in the league. When Brown walked away from the game at age 30, he held the league records for passing yards (12,312) and touchdowns (126).

And despite his bruising style, the Browns never missed a game, going on a 118-game streak.

He said to me, Make sure that when someone tackles you they remember how much it hurt, Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey said. He lived by that philosophy and I have always followed that advice.

A two-sport star at Syracuse who some say is the best lacrosse player in NCAA history, Brown endured countless racist taunts while playing at an almost all-white school at the time. However, he was an All-American in both sports, led the nation in scoring, and lettered in basketball.

Brown was the sixth overall pick of the 1957 draft, joining a team that regularly played for the title. He was the Offensive Rookie of the Year that season.

Running behind an offensive line that featured Hall of Fame tackles Lou Groza and Mike McCormack, Brown set a league mark with 1,527 yards and scored 17 TDs on his way to the leagues Most Outstanding Player providing a precursor to the MVP in 1958. Over the next three seasons, he never rushed for less than 1,257 yards before gaining just 996 in 1962.

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