The NFL community, especially the Cleveland Browns organization, lost a true legend with the passing of Jim Brown this past Friday. Jim Brown is considered by many to be the greatest player ever in the National Football League but he was more than just a football player.

Jim Brown came up in an era when the country was still finding its way out of segregation. Civil Rights was at the forefront of social consciousness, and Brown believed that athletes could use their status as power to invoke change.

In 1967, two years after he had retired, Jim Brown organized what was known as the “Cleveland Summit.” The summit was a meeting of the country’s top Black athletes that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known as Lew Alcindor at that time), Muhammad Ali, and Bill Russell.

Though the meeting was mainly to convince Muhammad Ali to change his Vietnam draft stance, and little impact was made that directly affected Ali’s stance, the meeting was still impactful because it demonstrated that black prominent voices could rally and come together. Jim Brown was the architect of this.

Jim Brown also worked the gang relations in Los Angeles in the late 1980’s. He worked with rival gangs to curb the violence and promote education to the streets to achieve a better life. In 1988, Brown founded “Amer-I-Can” to help ex-convicts and disadvantaged inner-city youth.

In addition to his activism, Jim Brown, also had some entertainment fame as well after football. Considered by many to be the first Black action star, Brown starred in many Hollywood films. His most notable films included, “The Dirty Dozen” and “100 Rifles.”

Jim Brown was an ambassador for Cleveland also. He loved the blue-collar city even though he was not originally born there. Brown could always be seen wearing the orange and brown colors, long after his playing days were over. He never took kind to anyone cracking jokes about the city and because of that the city of Cleveland loved him.

Jim Brown was a legend even when that didn’t include carrying a leather ball. RIP JB.

-Ed in Columbus

@Ed_In_Columbus

*Photo courtesy of ABC News*