ESPN was throwing dirt on Jim Brown’s name right after learning the former Cleveland Browns star had passed away.
Brown, who led the Browns to their last championship, passed away at the age of 87 on Thursday night. But the news only broke on Friday afternoon as a spokeswoman for the former running back and actor’s family revealed he died peacefully at his home in Los Angeles, with his wife Monique by his side.
“To the world, he was an activist, actor, and football star,” Monique Brown wrote in an Instagram post. “To our family, he was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. Our hearts are broken.”
Brown had a relatively short career in the NFL, playing for nine seasons, yet that did not stop him from smashing multiple records. He also led the league in rushing yards in eight of the nine seasons he played.
In reporting the former star’s death, ESPN pointed out some of the more controversial events pertaining to Brown, including claims of rape and arrests.
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Of course, The Worldwide Leader in Sports didn’t publish anything that hasn’t previously been reported, but perhaps this was too soon.
Apart from Brown’s impact on the football field, he was also a renowned actor and civil rights activist, having used his platform to aid Blacks in their fight against racial injustice.
Brown was the organizer of “The Cleveland Summit” in 1967 which saw the likes of Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar support Muhammad Ali after he refused to serve in Vietnam.
He later made forrays into curbing gang violence in Los Angeles, launching the Amer-I-Can program to help underprivileged youth and former convicts.
