FootballNation.com | Article Jim Brown's lost 1,000-yard season Posted on 8/1/2012 1:38:42 AM By Kerry Byrne FN In-House Expert By Kerry J. Byrne Cold, Hard Football Facts Browns-shirted thug Jim Brown was the most dominant running back in the history of football and one of the great athletes in the annals of American sport. Brown owned the college gridiron as a two-way star at Syracuse and then with the Cleveland Browns he dramatically rewrote the standards by which pro football running backs are measured. His numbers stand the test of time a half-century later. In Brown’s spare time he was a lacrosse Hall of Famer, a pro basketball draftee and an Olympic-qualifying decathlete. But even a player of his stature may have been denied an incredible historic milestone by NFL stat keepers. At least that’s the argument made by football analyst Brian Marshall of Toronto.

He is a member of the Pro Football Researchers Assocation and the author of the 1995 book, “Jim Brown: A Statistical Presentation of His College and Pro Football Careers.” We met Marshall in June at NFL Films , where he made a presentation about Brown's lost 1,000-yard season. Brown, says Marshall, was mistakenly denied a 1,000-yard season in 1962 – a milestone which would further cement Brown’s reputation as the greatest running back of all time. Official NFL stats say that Brown ran for 996 yards in 1962. But those numbers conflict with data found in game-by-game reports kept by the Cleveland Browns organization and shared with Marshall for his research. Brown’s “official” 1962 numbers: 230 attempts, 996 yards, 4.33 YPA, 13 TD Brown’s gamebook 1962 numbers: 231 attempts, 1,011 yards, 4.38 YPA, 13 TD The record books say that Brown topped 1,000 yards seven times in his nine-year career.

But in reality, he topped 1,000 yards eight times in nine years, including eight years in a row: a record that should have stood for more than three decades. They are stunning numbers. Keep in mind, only five runners in NFL history had topped 1,000 yards in a season before Brown arrived on the scene in 1957 and re-invented the standards of pro football. The NFL's only 1,000-yard rushers before Brown made it an every-year habit were Beattie Feathers (1934), Steve Van Buren (1947,1949), Tony Canadeo (1949), Joe Perry (1953, 1954) and Rick Casares (1956). Put another, NFL fans witnessed seven 1,000-yard seasons from 1920 to 1956. Jim Brown matched those seven 1,000-yard seasons all by his lonesome in the space of nine years (1957-1965). In fact, he actually surpassed those seven 1,000-yard seasons.

Jim Brown’s second-rate season Brown’s 1962 season leaps off the record books as a vastly under-performing down year by his lofty standards. He rushed for just 996 yards and averaged 71.1 yards per game, far below the standards of his career. Even if you use the higher numbers in question, Brown averaged just 72.2 yards per game. In either case, it was the worst season of his career. The 1962 season is, in fact, the only one in which Brown failed to lead the NFL in rushing. There is a good reason for the sub-par performance, says Marshall. Brown injured his left wrist in Week 4 game against the Cowboys. It was a problem because Brown normally carried the ball in his left hand. The powerful man used his stronger right arm to beat back defenders.

(Note the photo at the top of the story: ball in left hand, right hand out to fend off opponents.) But with the injury, Brown was forced to carry the ball in his right hand in 1962 which, says Marshall, “reduced his ability to defend himself and which in turn negatively impacted his rushing numbers.” There’s no doubting that those numbers in 1962 were a clear under-achieving statistical outlier in Brown’s career. So the injury theory and the numbers seem to jibe well. But even injured, Marshall insists that Brown should be entered in the record books with another 1,000-yard season. Marshall uncovered several conflicts between the game-by-game records of 1962 and official NFL records today. Specifically, there are five games in conflict. The “official” records deny Brown 1 additional carry and 15 additional rushing yards. “Official” numbers:21 carries, 93 yards Play-by-play numbers: 21 carries, 96 yards “Official” numbers: 20 carries, 69 yards Play-by-play numbers: 20 carries, 79 yards Game 10 vs. St.

Louis “Official” numbers: 19 carries, 79 yards Play-by-play numbers: 19 carries, 78 yards Game 13 vs. N.Y. Giants “Official” numbers: 14 carries, 55 yards Play-by-play numbers: 14 carries, 56 yards Game 14 vs. San Francisco “Official” numbers: 22 carries, 135 yards Play-by-play numbers: 23 carries, 137 yards Those extra 15 yards, as noted above, would have boosted Brown from 996 yards to 1,011 yards in 1962. Brown’s Browns vs. Taylor’s Packers Brown still would have fallen short of the rushing title that year, even with the additional 15 yards. The honor that year belongs to Jim Taylor (1,474) who powered the NFL champion Green Bay Packers to what was probably the greatest team rushing season in history.

(Taylor, by the way, set the white guy single-season rushing record in 1962, an honor he still holds.) The 1962 Packers ran the ball 518 times for 2,460 yards, 4.75 YPA and 36 touchdowns – still the single-season rush TD record. Even the great Jim Brown had to be impressed by that performance. In fact, Brown (who never missed a game) returned from his injury with a great vengeance the following year, producing perhaps the greatest individual rushing season of all time. Brown in 1963 ran 291 times for 1,863 yards, 12 TD and an incredible 6.40 YPA. His average of 133.1 yards per game remains the second-best performance in NFL history, behind only O.J. Simpson in his 2,003-yard campaign of 1973 (143.1 YPG). Keep in mind Simpson ran the ball 41 more times than Brown did in 1963 – basically, Simpson needed three more carries per game to produce that additional 10 yards per game.

Simpson averaged 6.03 YPA to Brown's 6.40. Meanwhile, no player in history toted the ball nearly as often while maintaining such a prolific average per attempt as Brown did in 1963. In fact, only four other players in history touched the ball at least 100 times and averaged 6.40 YPA in a season. And the next closest to Brown (Mercury Morris) ran the ball just 149 times – almost half as many attempts. See the list here . More interestingly, the 1963 Browns can challenge the 1962 Packers for greatest rushing team in history. Cleveland that year ran the ball 460 times for 2,639 yards, 15 TD, well below Green Bay's scoring output, but an awesome team-wide average of 5.74 YPA – still the greatest single-season team rushing average in history. But Brown is largely responsible for that honor. The rest of the 1963 Browns ran the ball 146 times for 776 and 5.32 YPA.

The statistical fallout over 1962 Jim Brown’s 1,000-yard season of 1962 doesn’t materially change much of NFL history. For example, whether he ran for 12,312 yards (his "official" mark) or 12,327 yards (the "unofficial" mark), Brown is still No. 9 on the all-time rushing list, one spot behind Tony Dorsett (12,739) and one spot ahead of Marshall Faulk (12,279). The closest active player to Brown on the all-time rushing list is something of a surprise: Thomas Jones, who's produced 10,591 yards with five different teams, most recently in Kansas City. But there is the matter of recording history correctly or incorrectly. Football researchers, meanwhile, are frustratingly familiar with the history of poorly kept NFL statistics. Even today, the NFL engages in an infuriating practice of re-issuing stats with slight changes in the middle of each week of the season.

The missing 1,000-yard season, meanwhile, does offer some tantalizing if trivial what-ifs: For example, any football fan age 40 or older remembers well the scene in Chicago on Oct. 7, 1984, when Walter Payton surpassed Jim Brown as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. Payton bounced around left end behind a Matt Suhey block for a 6-yard gain against New Orleans . He earned a spot among football immortality with that single play. Even Saints players stopped to congratulate Payton as Soldier Field exploded and cameras rushed onto the field to capture the historic moment in the third quarter of the game. In reality, Payton was still a few carries shy of the record. After all, Brown produced 15 more yards than the record books told us. More specifically, Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders each later entered the record books with eight straight 1,000-yard seasons – a feat both executed from 1989 to 1996. In reality, they didn’t set the record for consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. They merely tied the standard set by Jim Brown 31 years earlier.

Sanders went on to 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons, a feat matched by Curtis Martin from 1995 to 2004. Then Emmitt Smith set the new standard with 11 straight from 1991 to 2001. Every player with eight or more consecutive 1,000-yard seasons has his name listed in the NFL Record & Fact Book. Brown, who also produced eight straight 1,000-yard seasons, is denied that spot on the list. Keep in mind that Thomas, Sanders, Martin and Smith – all Hall of Fame running backs – enjoyed the luxury of 16-game seasons. The great Jim Brown executed similar feats of 1,000-yard excellence in 12- and 14-game seasons. Brown’s dominance on the football field was profound and has never been matched by anyone at the position – even if the record books inadvertently refuse to give him his total statistical due.

The top 50 NFL players of all time: Jim Brown is number 1 - NY Daily News The top 50 NFL players of all time: Jim Brown is number 1 NFL Top 50: Jim Brown is best player in league history, edges Giants' Lawrence Taylor in Daily News' rankings (Nos. 1-10) The top 50 NFL players of all time: Jim Brown is number 1 NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 1:32 AM The Daily News commissioned a 15-member blue-ribbon panel of NFL experts to vote on their top 30 players of all time. From that list, we compiled the top 50 vote-getters. In the final installment of our countdown to the best player ever, we reveal Nos. 1-10. No. 1 Jim Brown Running Back, Cleveland Browns, 1957-65 The competition was intense and the achievements were spectacular, but there can only be one player who stands alone at the top of the mountain as the very best player in the 95-year history of the NFL: Jim Brown.

The Cleveland Browns’ fast, bruising running back was voted the greatest player in NFL history by a 15-member blue-ribbon panel commissioned by the Daily News to pick the 50 greatest players of all time. Jim Brown is an unstoppable force during his playing days. (Focus On Sport/Getty Images) “Paul Brown called him the best football player he ever saw,” said Bill Polian, the former GM of the Bills, Panthers and Colts. “I share that opinion.” Brown played only nine seasons (1957-65) in the NFL before abruptly quitting and concentrating on his movie career. He retired with 12,312 yards, which at the time was the most in history. He is now ninth. He is one of the greatest athletes in sports history. He was born in Georgia, but moved to Manhasset, L.I., when he was 8 years old, became a star at Manhasset High School and later as a football and lacrosse legend at Syracuse. In the NFL, he was a three-time MVP and unanimous first-team All-NFL eight times. He was 6-2, 232, a nightmare for defenses, and led the league in rushing eight times.

In Brown’s first four years, the regular season was just 12 games. It was 14 games for his last five years. That makes his average of 1,368 yards per season even more impressive. He had 1,527 yards in his second season and then a career-high 1,863 yards in his seventh season, which if played out over a 16-game schedule would still be a league-record 2,129 yards. Eric Dickerson holds the single-season record with 2,105 yards in 1984. The NFL went to a 16-game season in 1978. “Jim Brown is No. 1 because when he played, he maintained a bigger physical advantage than any player in any era,” panelist Mike Francesa said. Lawrence Taylor, who has become good friends with Brown over the years, only saw him play on tape. “He was a beast,” Taylor said. “He was built like a brick s---house. He’s all man. Fast and strong.” The eight backs who moved past Brown on the rushing list all played at least 10 years. Six of them played only in 16-game seasons.

Walter Payton played three seasons when it was 14 games and Tony Dorsett played one. Brown had planned to make the 1966 season his last in the NFL. But when shooting delays on “The Dirty Dozen” meant he was going to remain in London on the movie set and be late to training camp in Hiram, Ohio, it caused a rift between him and Browns owner Art Modell, who threatened to fine him $1,500 per week. Brown instead retired at age 30 with one year left on a two-year contract that paid him $60,000 per year. “I am leaving the Cleveland Browns with an attitude of friendliness and cooperation,” Brown said at a news conference in London in 1966. “Once I return to Cleveland I’ll do everything I can to help the Browns — other than playing.” He was an all-time athlete. “Simply the greatest ball carrier of all time,” panelist Ernie Accorsi said. He had Brown second. So did panelist Peter King. “Jim Brown higher than any quarterback?” King said. “Well, he dominated more than any quarterback has, and he did it in a time when the running game was everything.

He was as big as a linebacker, as fast as a receiver. Imagine averaging a 100-yard game for your career. He averaged 104.3.” Brown finished in the top five on every ballot. Ultimately, he’s No. 1. It’s often hard to project how players from different eras would do today, but Brown would have been unstoppable now, too. Lawrence Taylor. (John F. Grieshop/John F. Grieshop/WireImage.com) No. 2 Lawrence Taylor Linebacker, New York Giants, 1981-93 Lawrence Taylor changed the game, and despite so many attempts by LT wannabes, there will never be another one quite like him. He was an intimidating combination of strength and speed who wrecked offenses and quarterbacks (ask Joe Theismann). He was voted the second-best player in NFL history by the Daily News 15-member blue ribbon panel right behind Jim Brown. “It’s pretty cool,” L.T. said by phone Tuesday from Florida when he was informed of the honor. “In this league of so many great players, I wouldn’t think I would be this high. I am really appreciative.

That’s an honor with the class of guys who have played in this league. To be considered one of the best, that’s great. Jim Brown, Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, those names are icons. To be considered the best is one thing. Two is pretty good.” And because Brown was a running back, of course, that means the Daily News panel considers Taylor the greatest defensive player in NFL history. “I’m really excited about it,” he said, laughing. “I’m still making news.” Taylor had his share of problems off the field as a player and in his post-career life, but has been working hard to keep himself out of trouble and rehabilitate his image. The more time he spends on the golf course, it seems, the better off he is. Taylor was such a dominant pass rusher from his right outside linebacker spot in the Giants’ 3-4 defense it was impossible for running backs to block him. So, he started seeing double-teams with tight ends. Finally, innovative 49ers coach Bill Walsh assigned an offensive lineman to block LT during his rookie year in 1981. He would have left guard John Ayers swing out and try to catch Taylor coming off the edge.

“He changed — or invented —the rush linebacker position while dominating the opposition,” former Bills, Panthers and Colts GM Bill Polian said. Soon, it became LT against left tackles. He finished with 132½ sacks in his 13-year career. That does not include the 9½ he recorded as a rookie before sacks were an official statistic. In the Giants’ first Super Bowl season in 1986, LT became the first defensive player to be named league MVP in 15 years. “The longer I’ve been around professional football the more convinced I am that you can’t win titles without an exceptional quarterback. To me, Unitas is the gold standard,” former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi said. “The other indispensable ingredient needed for a championship team is a great pass rush. Lawrence Taylor was the best pass rusher I’ve ever seen.” NO. 1 IS A RUNAWAY Brown was the overwhelming No. 1 pick on our list, garnering eight first-place votes from the 15-member panel. Each voter was asked to pick his top 30 players in order, and the 15 panelists produced more than 90 names.

Thirty points were awarded for a first-place vote, 29 for a second, down to one point for a 30th-place vote. Brown led in first-place votes and total points with 435. Although Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor didn’t pick up one first-place vote, he finished second with 390 total points, followed by Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas (388). Brown received first-place votes from Bill Polian, Hall of Famers Bill Parcells and Cris Carter, WFAN’s Mike Francesa, former Giants linebacker Carl Banks, former Bears GM Jerry Angelo, former Associated Press football columnist Dave Goldberg and Daily News football writer Hank Gola. Johnny Unitas. (Focus On Sport/Getty Images) Packers receiver Don Hutson is the only other player to receive more than one first-place vote: Peter King of NBC Sports and the editor-in-chief of The MMQB.com, and Pro Football Hall of Fame vice president Joe Horrigan had him first. THE REST OF THE TOP 10 3. Johnny Unitas Quarterback, Baltimore Colts 1956-72, San Diego Chargers 1973 The legend of Johnny U is unparalleled in football history.

A ninth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers, he then got cut by the perennial NFL doormats, and ended up working construction and playing semi-pro ball only to land with the Baltimore Colts the next year to lead a dynasty. Unitas became the model for the modern pro quarterback as the Colts relied on his strong arm to become a pass-first team. He was the first QB to throw for more than 40,000 yards despite most of his seasons being 12 or 14 games. In 1959, he become the first QB to throw for over 30 TDs with a then-record 32. He set a record by throwing a touchdown pass in 47 straight games, a mark that lasted 52 years. A five-time All-Pro and a three-time NFL MVP (1959, 1964, 1967), he helped the Colts to three NFL titles. He threw for 369 yards and a touchdown in leading the Colts to victory in The Greatest Game Ever Played. In Super Bowl V, he threw a then-record 75-yard touchdown pass to John Mackey before Dallas knocked him out of the game with a rib injury. Joe Montana.

4. Joe Montana Quarterback, San Francisco 49ers 1979-92, Kansas City Chiefs 1993-94 Joe Cool. The Catch. The Super Drive. A legend. One of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, if not the best. Montana went 4-0 in the Super Bowl en route to becoming a pop culture icon. Known for his calm under pressure, he directed 31 fourth-quarter come-from behind victories. While his arm strength wasn’t the greatest, his success and legendary status led to the 49ers’ West Coast offense being copied or at least influencing virtually every other team in the league. It also enabled others to surpass him in statistical categories but not stature. He threw for more than 300 yards in a game 39 times, including seven times in which he surpassed 400 yards. His six 300-yard passing performances in the postseason are an NFL record. He owns the career playoff record for attempts, completions, touchdowns, and yards gained passing. In 1994 Montana became just the fifth quarterback to pass for more than 40,000 yards in a career.

At the time of his retirement, he ranked fourth in career passing yards (40,551), attempts (5,391), and passing touchdowns (273). His 3,409 completions ranked third all-time, and his career passer rating of 92.3 was second all-time. Jerry Rice. 5. Jerry Rice Wide receiver, San Francisco 49ers 1985-2000, Oakland Raiders 2001-04, Seattle Seahawks 2004 The most prolific receiver in NFL history came to the Niners in 1985 out of Mississippi Valley State after Bill Walsh traded up to No. 16 to grab him. Led NFL in receiving yards six times including a record 1,848 yards in 1995. Rice led the NFL in touchdown catches six times. Owns career marks for receptions (1,549), yards (22,895), most 1,000-yard seasons (14) and total TDs (208).

Rice was named first-team All-Pro 11 straight seasons and was voted to the NFL’s All-Decade Teams of the 1980s AND 1990s. Rice was named MVP of Super Bowl XXIII with 11 catches for 215 yards, including a 14-yard TD grab in the fourth quarter. He caught three passes for 51 yards on the last drive. On the winning play, Rice went in motion to the left side and turned upfield right next to John Taylor. That drew double coverage to Rice, leaving Taylor room to cut to the post and get open for the winning score. In four Super Bowls, all wins, Rice set career marks with 33 catches, 589 yards and eight touchdowns. Rice missed just 10 games (three of which were the strike games in 1987) in 20 seasons. Peyton Manning. 6. Peyton Manning Quarterback, Indianapolis Colts, 1998-2011, Denver Broncos 2012-present The quintessential quarterback when it comes to numbers — Manning owns them all, and many consider him the greatest quarterback of all time.

He also possibly the most popular player in the history of the NFL. He has won a record five NFL MVPs, is a 10-time All-Pro, has thrown for over 4,000 yards a record 13 times, has thrown an NFL-record 527 TD passes (and counting), threw a record 55 TD passes and for 5,477 yards in 2013 ... and ... you get the idea. He is one of two quarterbacks to ever beat all 32 teams (along with Brett Favre). Manning has thrown for 37 TDs and 6,589 yards in 23 playoff games. He won MVP honors in Super Bowl XLI in the rain in Miami by throwing for 247 yards and a TD. No quarterback has ever controlled the game at the line of scrimmage like Manning — “OMAHA! OMAHA!” — and the pre-snap routine has earned him the nickname “The Sheriff.” Critics point to his losing record in the playoffs (11-12, including 1-2 in the Super Bowl) as the reason he is not the greatest ever.

Still, this year, Bill Belichick called Manning the “best quarterback I’ve coached against.” Tom Brady (Simmons, Howard/New York Daily News) 7. Tom Brady Quarterback, New England Patriots, 2000-present Tom Brady is the player that should have put the NFL scouting combine out of business. One of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the league went 199th, in the sixth round, to the Patriots in Bill Belichick’s first New England draft. It was not until the next season that Brady, who grew up a 49ers fan and was in the stands at Candlestick for The Catch, began to make history. Thanks to Jets linebacker Mo Lewis knocking out Drew Bledsoe in Week 2 in 2001, Brady took over and a dynasty was born. You know the rest — The Tuck Rule, upsetting the Rams in the first of three Super Bowl victories and a slew of records. Brady’s passion for the game and distaste for losing are as legendary as his accomplishments on the field. He joined Joe Montana as the only players to win NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP multiple times.

He and John Elway are the only two quarterbacks to lead their teams to five Super Bowls. He has won two Super Bowl MVPs, two NFL MVPs and won an NFL record 18 postseason games, including a record 10 straight. Has a .500 or better regular-season record against all 31 other teams. Dick Butkus. 8. Dick Butkus Linebacker, Chicago Bears, 1965-73 The most feared tackler in the history of the NFL. In his nine seasons, the Maestro of Mayhem was All-NFL six times and made eight straight Pro Bowls. The middle linebacker had his career cut short by knee injuries, but even while hobbled in the last three, he could not be stopped. The man who played for the Bears played and acted like one. Dishing out punishing hits wasn’t his only asset — he had the agility to cover running backs and tight ends out of the backfield. Butkus had 22 interceptions and recovered 27 fumbles, and forced many more before that was an official stat.

The Chicago native became a two-time All-American at Illinois then a first-round pick of the Bears in the same draft that netted Gale Sayers. He made an immediate impact with 11 unassisted tackles in his pro debut against the 49ers. He had 18 sacks (then an unofficial stat) in 1967 and led the Bears in tackles for eight straight seasons. As noted football poet (and No. 12 player on the Daily News list) Deacon Jones put it, “Roses are red and violets are blue... if you got any sense, you’ll keep Butkus away from you.” Reggie White. 9. Reggie White Defensive lineman, Philadelphia Eagles 1985-92, Green Bay Packers 1993-98, Carolina Panthers 2000 The Minister of Defense was arguably the best defensive lineman in NFL history. He was a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and retired in 2000 as the NFL’s career sack leader with 198. White used his combination of size (6-5) and speed to terrorize quarterbacks for 15 seasons, earning All-Pro honors 13 times.

After starring at Tennessee and playing two seasons with the Memphis Showboats, he joined the Eagles when the USFL folded in 1985 and set an Eagles record with 21 sacks in 1987 in just 12 games. White’s most influential move came off the field when he threatened to file an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, paving the way for free agency. After eight years with the Eagles, with whom he had more sacks (124) than games played (121), White signed with the Packers, where he helped put the title back in Titletown, USA. White set a Super Bowl record with three sacks, including back-to-back sacks of Drew Bledsoe in the third quarter, as the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI, 35-21. White had a team-high 11 sacks the next year to help the Packers get back to the Super Bowl, but he could not get to John Elway and the Packers fell to Denver. White had 16 sacks the next year then retired. He came out of retirement in 2000 to play for the Panthers before calling it quits for good. Walter Payton. 10.

Walter Payton Running back, Chiacgo Bears 1975-87 The man known as “Sweetness” was anything but when it came to the people trying to tackle him. Payton could burst through a hole or make a tackler miss but relished in plowing into and then over defenders. The numbers are staggering — 16,726 rushing yards, 110 rushing touchdowns, 21,803 combined net yards, 125 combined touchdowns, 77 100-yard rushing games. He retired as the all-time leader in rushing and had 10 seasons of over 1,200 yards. But the numbers alone are not what makes Payton an immortal. Payton missed just one game in his career, in his rookie year. Payton also prided himself on being an excellent — and willing — blocker. He got out of bed with the flu on Nov. 20, 1977 and set the single-game rushing record with 275 yards on 40 carries against the Vikings.

Payton was named NFL MVP in ’77, rushing for 1,852 yards and 14 TDs and was NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1985 when he rushed for 1,551 yards to lead Bears to their lone Super Bowl victory. Payton died in 1999 from a rare liver disease, and to honor his legacy as a humanitarian, the NFL put his name on its Man of the Year Award. OUR READERS' TOP 10 BLUE RIBBON PANEL Ernie Accorsi: Giants GM from 1997-2006 and former GM of Colts and Browns. Jerry Angelo: Bears GM from 2001-2011, built the team that went to the Super Bowl in 2006. Carl Banks: Linebacker on the Giants teams that won two Super Bowls. Cris Carter: 2013 HOF inductee. Had 1,101 receptions and 130 TD catches. Gil Brandt: Cowboys VP from 1960-89.

Joe Browne: Joined the NFL as intern in the 1960s, is senior consultant to Roger Goodell. Mike Francesa: Long-time host of afternoon drive time show on WFAN. Hank Gola: Has covered the NFL since 1981, and has been with the Daily News since 1992. Dave Goldberg: Retired long-time NFL writer/columnist for the Associated Press. Joe Horrigan: The VP of communications/exhibits for the Pro Football HOF. Has been with the HOF for 38 years. Kim Jones: Correspondent for the NFL Network and host on WFAN, formerly covered Giants for Star Ledger. Peter King: Editor-in-chief of TheMMQB.com and studio reporter for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Bill Parcells: Elected to the Pro Football HOF in 2013, won two Super Bowls with the Giants. Bill Polian: As GM, won Super Bowl with Colts in 2006, built Bills four Super Bowl teams. Mike Tannenbaum: Jets GM 2006-2012.

Constructed teams that went to the AFC title game in 2009 and 2010. Tags: Jim Brown Jim Brown February 17, 1936 (age 80) Place of birth: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Weight: 1957 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6 Career history 8× First-team All-Pro (1957–1961, 1963 – 1965 ) 4× NFL MVP (1957, 1958, 1963, 1965) College Football Hall of Fame James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former professional American football player and actor. He was a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Frequently regarded among the greatest football players of all time, Brown was a Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the NFL Most Valuable Player four times, and won an NFL championship with the Browns in 1964.

He led the league in rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he had shattered most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever. [1] Brown earned consensus All-America honors playing college football at Syracuse University in New York, where he was an all-around player for the Syracuse Orangemen football team. He also excelled in basketball , track and field , and lacrosse . The football team later retired his number 44 jersey. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. In his professional career, Brown carried the ball 2,359 times for 12,312 rushing yards and 106 touchdowns, which were all records when he retired. He averaged 104.1 rushing yards per game, and is the only player in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career. His 5.2 yards per rush is third-best among running backs. Brown was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

He was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team , comprising the best players in NFL history. His number 32 jersey is retired by the Browns. Shortly after his football career, Brown became an actor, and had several leading roles throughout the 1970s. Contents 13 External links Early life Brown was born in St. Simons Island, Georgia , to Swinton Brown, a professional boxer, and his wife, Theresa, a homemaker. [2] At Manhasset Secondary School , Brown earned 13 letters playing football, lacrosse , baseball, and basketball, and running track. [3] Mr. Brown credits his self-reliance to having grown up on Saint Simons Island, a community off the coast of Georgia where he was raised by his grandmother and where racism did not affect him directly. At the age of eight, he moved to Manhasset, New York, on Long Island , where his mother worked as a domestic . It was at Manhasset High School that he became a football star and athletic legend. He averaged a then-Long Island record 38 points per game for his basketball team.

That record was later broken by future Boston Red Sox star Carl Yastrzemski of Bridgehampton . [4] College sports career As a sophomore at Syracuse University (1954), Brown was the second-leading rusher on the team. As a junior, he rushed for 666 yards (5.2 per carry). In his senior year, Brown was a consensus first-team All-American . He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting, and set school records for highest season rush average (6.2) and most rushing touchdowns in a single game (6). He ran for 986 yards—third-most in the country despite Syracuse playing only eight games—and scored 14 touchdowns. In the regular-season finale, a 61–7 rout of Colgate , he rushed for 197 yards, scored six touchdowns, and kicked seven extra points for 43 points (another school record). Then in the Cotton Bowl , he rushed for 132 yards, scored three touchdowns, and kicked three extra points, but a blocked extra point after Syracuse’s third touchdown was the difference as TCU won 28–27.

[5] Brown is a member of The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll. Perhaps more impressive was his success as a multisport athlete. In addition to his football accomplishments, he excelled in basketball, track, and especially lacrosse. As a sophomore, he was the second-leading scorer for the basketball team (15 ppg), and earned a letter on the track team. His junior year, he averaged 11.3 points in basketball, and was named a second-team All-American in lacrosse. His senior year, he was named a first-team All-American in lacrosse (43 goals in 10 games to rank second in scoring nationally). [6] The Carrier Dome has an 800 square-foot tapestry depicting Brown in football and lacrosse uniforms with the words “Greatest Player Ever”. [7] Professional football career circa 1957–65 A helmet signed by Brown in exhibition Brown was taken in the first round of the 1957 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns , the sixth overall selection.

[8] After only nine years in the NFL, he departed as the NFL record holder for both single-season (1,863 in 1963) and career rushing (12,312 yards), as well as the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (106), total touchdowns (126), and all-purpose yards (15,549). He was the first player ever to reach the 100-rushing-touchdowns milestone, and only a few others have done so since, despite the league’s expansion to a 16-game season in 1978 (Brown’s first four seasons were only 12 games, and his last five were 14 games). Brown’s record of scoring 100 touchdowns in only 93 games stood until LaDainian Tomlinson did it in 89 games during the 2006 season. Brown holds the record for total seasons leading the NFL in all-purpose yards (five: 1958–1961, 1964), and is the only rusher in NFL history to average over 100 yards per game for a career.

In addition to his rushing, Brown was a superb receiver out of the backfield, catching 262 passes for 2,499 yards and 20 touchdowns, while also adding another 628 yards returning kickoffs. Every season he played, Brown was voted into the Pro Bowl , and he left the league in style by scoring three touchdowns in his final Pro Bowl game. Perhaps the most amazing feat is that he accomplished these records despite not playing past 29 years of age. Brown’s six games with at least four touchdowns remains an NFL record. Tomlinson and Marshall Faulk both have five games with four touchdowns. Brown led the league in rushing a record eight times. He was also the first NFL player ever to rush for over 10,000 yards. He told me, ‘Make sure when anyone tackles you he remembers how much it hurts.’ He lived by that philosophy and I always followed that advice. — John Mackey , 1999 Brown’s 1,863 rushing yards in the 1963 season remain a Cleveland franchise record. It is currently the oldest franchise record for rushing yards out of all 32 NFL teams.

His average of 133 yards per game that season is exceeded only by O.J. Simpson ‘s 1973 season. While others have compiled more prodigious statistics, when viewing Brown’s standing in the game, his style of running must be considered along with statistical measures. He was very difficult to tackle (shown by his leading 5.2 yards per carry), often requiring more than one defender to bring him down. [9] Brown retired in July 1966, [10] [11] after only nine seasons, as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. He held the record of 12,312 yards until it was broken by Walter Payton on October 7, 1984, during Payton’s 10th NFL season. Brown is still the Cleveland Browns all-time leading rusher. [12] Currently Jim Brown is ninth on the all-time rushing list. [13] During Brown’s career, Cleveland won the NFL championship in 1964 and were runners-up in 1957 and 1965 , his rookie and final season, respectively.

Acting career Brown and Janet MacLachlan in …tick…tick…tick… (1970) Brown began an acting career before the 1964 season, playing a buffalo soldier in a Western action film called Rio Conchos . [14] The film premiered at Cleveland’s Hippodrome theater on October 23, with Brown and many of his teammates in attendance. The reaction was lukewarm. Brown, one reviewer said, was a serviceable actor, but the movie’s overcooked plotting and implausibility amounted to “a vigorous melodrama for the unsqueamish.” [15] In early 1966, Brown was shooting his second film in London. [16] The Dirty Dozen cast Brown as Robert Jefferson, one of 12 convicts sent to France during World War II to assassinate German officers meeting at a castle near Rennes in Brittany before the D-Day invasion. Production delays due to bad weather meant he missed at least the first part of training camp on the campus of Hiram College , which annoyed Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell , who threatened to fine Brown $1,500 for every week of camp he missed.

[17] Brown, who had previously said that 1966 would be his last season, the final year of a three-year contract, [18] announced his retirement, instead. [10] [11] [14] At the end of his nine-year career, Brown held records for most rushing yards in a game, a season, and a career. He also owned the record for all-purpose yards in a career and best average per carry for a running back at 5.22 yards, a mark that still stands. [19] Brown went on to play a villain in a 1967 episode of I Spy called “Cops and Robbers”, then the leading role as a Southern sheriff in the 1970 movie …tick…tick…tick… , as well as in numerous other features such as Riot , The Split , and Slaughter , starring in a number of crime films and Westerns. Biographer Mike Freeman credits Brown with becoming “the first black action star”, due to roles such as the Marine captain he portrayed in the hit 1968 film Ice Station Zebra .

[20] In 1969, Brown starred in 100 Rifles with Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch . The film was one of the first to feature an interracial love scene. Raquel Welch reflects on the scene in Spike Lee ‘s Jim Brown: All-American . Brown acted with Fred Williamson in films such as 1974′s Three the Hard Way , 1975′s Take a Hard Ride , 1982′s One Down, Two to Go, 1996′s Original Gangstas , and 2002′s On the Edge. He also guest-starred in a handful of television episodes of various programs with Williamson. In 1998, he voiced Butch Meathook in the film Small Soldiers . Brown played Robert Jefferson in The Dirty Dozen, and in Keenen Ivory Wayans’ 1988 comedy I’m Gonna Git You Sucka . Brown also acted in 1987′s The Running Man , an adaptation of a Stephen King story, as Fireball.

He played a defensive coach, Montezuma Monroe, in Any Given Sunday , and also appeared in Sucker Free City and Mars Attacks! . Brown appeared in some TV shows including Knight Rider in the season-three premiere episode “Knight of the Drones”. Brown appeared alongside football hero Joe Namath on The A-Team episode “Quarterback Sneak”. [21] Brown also appeared on ChiPs, episodes one and two, in season three, as a pickpocket on roller skates. Filmography Brown served as a color analyst on NFL telecasts for CBS in 1978, teaming with Vin Scully and George Allen . In 1983, 17 years after retiring from professional football, Brown mused about coming out of retirement to play for the Los Angeles Raiders when it appeared that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris would break his all-time rushing record. [22] Brown disliked Harris’ style of running, criticizing the Steelers’ running back’s tendency to run out of bounds, a marked contrast to Brown’s approach of fighting for every yard and taking on the oncoming tackler.

Eventually, Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears broke the record on October 7, 1984, with Brown having ended thoughts of a comeback. Harris himself, who retired after the 1984 season after playing eight games with the Seattle Seahawks , fell short of Brown’s mark. Following Harris’s last season, in that January, a challenge between Brown and Harris in a 40-yard dash was nationally televised. Brown, at 48 years old, was certain he could beat Harris, though Harris was only 34 years old and just ending his elite career. Harris clocked in at 5.16 seconds, and Brown in at 5.72 seconds. [23] Brown’s autobiography, published in 1989 by Zebra Books, was titled Out of Bounds and was co-written with Steve Delsohn. [24] He was a subject of the book Jim: The Author’s Self-Centered Memoir of the Great Jim Brown, by James Toback . In 1993, Brown 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. He currently works with juveniles caught up in the gang scene in Los Angeles and Cleveland through this Amer-I-Can program. [25] It is a life-management skills organization that operates in inner cities and prisons. In 2002, film director Spike Lee released the film Jim Brown: All-American , a retrospective on Brown’s professional career and personal life. In 2008, Brown initiated a lawsuit against Sony and EA Sports for using his likeness in the Madden NFL video game series. He claimed that he “never signed away any rights that would allow his likeness to be used”. [26] As of 2008, Brown was serving as an executive advisor to the 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. [27] On May 29, 2013, Brown was named a special adviser to the Browns. [28] Brown is also a part owner of the New York Lizards of Major League Lacrosse , joining a group of investors in the purchase of the team in 2012.

[29] Legal troubles and controversy In 1965, Brown was arrested in his hotel room for assault and battery against an 18-year-old named Brenda Ayres; he was later acquitted on the charges. [30] A year later, he fought paternity allegations that he fathered Brenda Ayres’ child. In 1968, Brown was charged with assault with intent to commit murder after model Eva Bohn-Chin was found beneath the balcony of Brown’s second-floor apartment. [31] The charges were later dismissed after Bohn-Chin refused to cooperate with the prosecutor’s office. Brown was also ordered to pay a $300 fine for striking a deputy sheriff involved in the investigation during the incident. In Brown’s autobiography, he stated that that Bohn-Chin was angry and jealous over an affair he had been having with Gloria Steinem and this argument is what led to the, “misunderstanding with the police.” [32] In 1970, Brown was found not guilty of assault and battery, the charges stemming from a road-rage incident that had occurred in 1969.

In 1975, Brown was sentenced to one day in prison and two years probation, and to pay a fine of $500 for beating and choking his golfing partner Frank Snow. [33] In 1985, Brown was charged with raping a 33-year-old woman. [34] The charges were later dismissed. [35] In 1986, Brown was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend Debra Clark. Clark refused to press charges, though, and Brown was released. [36] In 1999, Brown was arrested and charged with making terrorist threats toward his wife. Later that year, he was found guilty of vandalism for smashing his wife’s car with a shovel. [37] He was sentenced to three years’ probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, and 400 hours of community service or 40 hours on a work crew along with a $1,800 fine. [38] Brown ignored the terms of his sentence, and in 2000, was sentenced to six months in jail for refusing the court-ordered counseling and community service. He was released after 3 months.

[39] [40] [41] Football accolades Brown’s memorable professional career led to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, while The Sporting News selected him as the greatest football player of all time. Brown’s football accomplishments at Syracuse garnered him a berth in the College Football Hall of Fame. Brown also earned a spot in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame , giving him a rare triple crown of sorts. In 118 career games, Brown averaged 104.3 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry. None of the NFL’s career rushing leaders comes close to these totals. For example, Walter Payton averaged only 88 yards per game during his career with a 4.4 yards-per-carry average. Emmitt Smith averaged only 81.2 yards per game with a 4.2 yards-per-carry average.

[42] Brown has famously said on the subject: “When running backs get in a room together, they don’t argue about who is the best.” The only top-10 all-time rusher who even approaches Brown’s totals, Barry Sanders , posted a career average of 99.8 yards per game and 5.0 yards per carry. However, Barry Sanders’ father, William, was frequently quoted as saying that Jim Brown was “the best I’ve ever seen.” [43] Brown currently holds NFL records for most games with 24 or more points in a career (6), highest career touchdowns per game average (1.068), most career games with three or more touchdowns (14), most games with four or more touchdowns in a career (6), most seasons leading the league in rushing attempts (6), most seasons leading league in rushing yards (8), highest career rushing yards-per-game average (104.3), most seasons leading the league in touchdowns (5), most seasons leading the league in yards from scrimmage (6), highest average yards from scrimmage per game in a career (125.52), and most seasons leading the league in combined net yards (5).

On November 4, 2010, Brown was chosen by NFL Network’s NFL Films production The Top 100: NFL’s Greatest Players as the second-greatest player in NFL history, behind only Jerry Rice . NFL career statistics

Question: Who beat Jim Brown's rushing yards total of 12,312 yards in the 1980s?
Answer: Walter Payton