Disclaimer: The views expressed in the following are my own. Frankly, they’re topics that I’m really passionate about, sports and celebrating sports figures after retirement, or posthumously, even if their off the field behavior hasn’t been the greatest, or of that of the ‘heroes’ they are made out to be on an off the field.
Specifically, Jim Brown. Jim Brown, Friday passed away at the age of 87. Jim Brown, the football player, was the definition of a beast. Before Barry Sanders, Emmit Smith, before Walter Payton, there was Jim Brown. 118 Games, he started all of them, 12312 yards, you read that right, in an era where teams didn’t pass much, 106 Touchdowns, in 9 seasons, 9!!!! Unreal! Jim Brown, Hall of Fame Running Back, considered by many to be the best player ever to play football period!
Jim Brown also did a TON in terms of social activism and race relations. His famed, Cleveland Summit, that drew support of other sports figures and their support of Muhammad Ali’s protest of and objection to Vietnam War. The Amer-I-can Program he founded to rehabilitate gang members and struggling kids. And, he even acted in movies and television.
WHAT A GUY! To steal a line from my favorite tv show, ‘How could anyone not like him?!?’
Continue reading to find out.
The timeline below is from a linked article from DeadSpin back in 2016. The link is below. I will post the timeline and a short commentary after.
https://deadspin.com/jim-brown-did-great-things-he-also-beat-woman-1784269329
1965: Jim Brown, everybody’s hero is accused of assaulting an 18 year woman, slapping her face, hip and stomach and forced her to have sex with him. Ultimately, the charges are dropped, after a jury of his peers, (in the city of Cleveland where was was still playing football at the time) find him not guilty. No worries there Jimmy, Cleveland and the football world still love ya and, sign of the times, right? Maybe?
Jim Brown: Football Hall of Famer, Activist, Actor, Loved by Millions, Alleged Domestic Abuser?
Two similar incidents happened in 1967 and 1971. In ‘67, Brown was accused of beating his then girlfriend, charges were dropped when she later claimed she, ‘fell’.
In ‘71, this time, two women, again accused the All American from Syracuse, of beating them and throwing them out of his apartment AND, you read that correctly, a flight of stairs! The worst part, the two women appeared WITH BROWN and LEFT WITH AFTER the preceedings!!!
Don’t worry Jim, you’re already a Hall of Famer, we’ll call this a, minor transgression? Still all the good social activism stuff, right?
From 1975 to 1985, Brown managed to stay out of notable trouble, but continued his activism and good deeds. Maybe this leaf is turning? We hope?
(Sigh)
1985
Brown is again accused of raping and assaulting a 33 year old woman, with the help of his then 23 year old girlfriend. The charges were dropped due to ‘inconsistent testimony’ because, in short, the accuser couldn’t remember exactly what happened.
A year after the ‘85 case, Brown would have the audacity to say, ‘I don’t have much chance if someone wants to get me?’
Jim Brown: Football Hero, Activist, Alleged Domestic Abuser, Sympathetic Figure after said Allegations?
In ‘86, there was a minor dust up that he and his wife sort of did PR damage control on, then in 1989 his Memoir hit, Out of Bounds’, where and I’m paraphrasing, he admits to hitting women, admits he never should have and admits he should have been more adult. What a concept!!!
Holy shit! We have hope for this, at the time 54 YEAR OLD MAN REALIZING HITTING WOMEN IS A NO NO!
1999 & 2000
Brown is again in the news, this time for making terrorist threats against his wife. An officer arrived to see Brown’s wife visable scared, shaken, nervous and like she had been crying. There was even a 911 call where his wife states that Brown, ‘hadn’t hit her that day’. That part of the tape was labeled, ‘inaudible’. All ol Jimmy did was take a shovel to and destroy his wife’s car, for this, he was sentenced to a year of domestic violence counseling, 3 years probation and 400 hours of community service.
Monique Brown later gave an interview comparing the jail time he would receive due to this case, more on that in a moment, to that of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. All this after the guy told her he’d ‘snap her neck’.
Jim Brown: Football Hero, Activist, Alleged Domestic Abuser, Civil Rights Survivor!!!
For his role in the 2000 ordeal, saying it was beneath him, Brown refused the domestic violence counseling and spent 4 months in jail.
That’s where the timeline ends and my comments begin.
Jim Brown: Football Hero, Activist, Movie Star, Alleged Domestic Abuser….
No, you know what? My point is, you want to remember him on the football, great, but he was an ASSHOLE off the field, especially to women. I’m sorry, I’ve already been slammed by sharing this opinion in some Facebook groups, but why is he getting a pass here?
Domestic abuse and violence against women, just no, it’s a trigger. Being around it, exposed to it in high school and college, it shouldn’t happen ever.
I’m going to post this and I welcome any feedback to those that read it, truly, and I’ll get pushback I’m sure, but discussion is healthy and I welcome it.
I’d be cold hearted if I didn’t say my condolences to the Brown family for their loss and the football community’s loss as a whole. Condolences also have to go out to the families of the women he victimized over the years.
In the coming days and football season, Jim Brown, the larger than life Hall of Famer will be honored and celebrated, and deservedly so. But, we must examine Jim Brown, and his actions off the field as well.