Jim Brown
Ordell Braase and Gino Marchetti of the Baltimore Colts bring down Brown in the 1964 NFL Championship Game at Municipal Stadium. The Browns' 27-0 victory in the title game remains the most recent major championship for a Cleveland professional sports franchise.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown puts on his jacket on the sidelines during a 1964 game against the New York Giants played at Yankee Stadium. Brown rushed for 99 yards on 20 carries in Cleveland's 52-20 thrashing of the Giants
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown and Ernie Davis hold up Davis' No. 45 Browns jersey. Brown and Davis were set to be teammates with the Cleveland Browns, but Davis was diagnosed with leukemia while preparing for the 1962 College All-Star Game and died in 1963. The Browns retired Davis' jersey after his death.
Credit: Henry Barr Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images
Jim Brown
Brown shares a meal with Syracuse football teammate Chuck Zimmerman in 1956. That season Brown rushed for 986 yards with 14 touchdowns in just eight games and was named a first-team All-America. He also finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
Credit: Peter Stackpole//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Jim Brown
Brown and teammates Mike Bill, Ron Luciano, Al Benecick and Frank Manbuca train on ropes before the 1956 college football season.
Credit: Peter Stackpole//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Jim Brown
Brown and then-New Orleans Saints running back Ricky Williams cover up behind a surfboard for a Sports Illustrated feature in 1999.
Credit: Walter Iooss Jr./SI
Jim Brown
Brown runs through the mud and the 49ers defense in a game in San Francisco in 1962. Although he failed to earn All-Pro distinction for the only time in his career, Brown still gained 1,513 yards from scrimmage with 18 total touchdowns and was selected for the Pro Bowl.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown poses in December 1983, 18 years after the conclusion of his playing career. Towards the end and following the conclusion of his football career, Brown became a successful actor, appearing in "The Dirty Dozen," "The Running Man," and "Any Given Sunday." He briefly considered returning to football in 1983 with the Los Angeles Raiders, but never did.
Credit: George Rose/Getty Images
Jim Brown
Brown walks off the field after the Cleveland Browns dominated the New York Giants 52-20 in 1964. The victory capped off a 10-3-1 regular season that sent the Browns to the NFL Championship Game.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown huddles up with a jacket and teammates on the bench during a cold game against the New York Giants. He ranks 15th in career yards per attempt and fifth in career touchdowns with 5.2 and 106, respectively.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown poses for a portrait as part of Sports Illustrated's Where Are They Now issue in 2011. He is the only player to be inducted into the College Football, Pro Football and Lacrosse Halls of Fame.
Credit: Walter Iooss Jr./SI
Jim Brown
Brown returned to his alma mater, Syracuse, to speak at the dedication of Syracuse's football field to Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis in 2009.
Credit: Jerome Davis/Icon SMI
Jim Brown
Brown stands alone on the sideline during a game against the Eagles in 1965, the final season of his career. Brown rushed for 1,554 yards with 17 touchdowns that season, including 131 yards and three total touchdowns against the Eagles in a November matchup.
Credit: Walter Iooss Jr./SI
Jim Brown
Always a physical runner, Brown takes on the New York Giants' Jim Katcavage, Jimmy Patton and Lou Slaby in a 1964 matchup at Yankee Stadium.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown on the sidelines with Browns teammates Gene Hickerson and Frank Ryan during a 1964 game against the Giants at Yankee Stadium, the Giants' home stadium from 1956 to 1973.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown sits next to President Bill Clinton and wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson as Clinton talks during a town meeting on race and sports in Houston in 1998.
Credit: Ron Edmonds/AP
Jim Brown
Brown extends a stiff arm as he runs away from the New York Giants defense at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1961. Brown did a lot of running away from defenses in 1961 as he topped 100 yards per game for the fourth straight season, racking up 1,408 rushing yards plus another 459 receiving.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Quarterback Chuck Zimmerman and Brown work on their timing at Archbold Stadium. Brown successfully booted 37 extra points in three seasons for the Orange.
Credit: Peter Stackpole//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Jim Brown
Brown looks at a football play on a chalkboard at Syracuse. He graduated from the university in 1957.
Credit: Collegiate Images/Getty Images
Jim Brown
Brown tries to juke a tackle from Baltimore Colts cornerback Lenny Lyles in the NFL Championship Game in 1964. He gained 114 yards on 27 carries as the Cleveland Browns routed the Colts 27-0. It was the only championship of Brown's career.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown sits in the audience in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, for the heavyweight title fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974. Brown once decided he wanted to fight Ali, but after Ali demonstrated his superior boxing skills, Brown decided his challenge was not such a good idea.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
A great collegiate lacrosse player, Brown was a second-team All-America his junior year and a first-team All-America his senior year, when he scored 43 goals in 10 games, the second most in the nation.
Credit: Courtesy of Syracuse University
Jim Brown
On a rainy day in New York in 1964, Brown trudges through the mud at Yankee Stadium. Cleveland's comfortable 32-point win allowed the Browns to give 14 carries to their other running backs and rest Brown.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
With the NFL about to bask in the next installment of the greatest game it has to offer, SI.com looks back at arguably the greatest player the league has ever had. Here are 32 classic photos from throughout No. 32's historic career and life. A four-sport athlete for the Orange, Brown starred in football for three seasons, was the second leading scorer on the basketball team, ran track and was named a first-team All-America in lacrosse.
Credit: Collegiate Images/Getty Images
Jim Brown
Brown sits on the bench during a game in 1963. He was named the UPI NFL MVP that season after rushing for a career-high 1,863 yards with 12 touchdowns. Brown's career average of 104.3 yards per game is still the best in NFL history.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown springs up field surrounded by blockers against the Philadelphia Eagles in 1961. Brown gained 140 yards from scrimmage in Cleveland's 27-20 loss in the season opener.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown stands in his ROTC uniform at Archbold Stadium, Syracuse's football stadium until 1978.
Credit: Collegiate Images/Getty Images
Jim Brown
Brown attempts to leap over the pile against the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL Championship Game.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown tries to escape a tackle from the New York Giants' Ray Wietecha in the snow at Yankee Stadium in 1958. Brown gained 148 rushing yards in the game, 65 of them coming on a touchdown run in the first quarter for Cleveland's only touchdown. The Browns lost just four games that season, three to the Giants, including a 10-0 defeat in the playoffs.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
Jim Brown
Brown and running back Ricky Williams splash around in Brown's pool at his home in Hollywood Hills, Calif., in 1999. Brown met with the star Texas running back before the start of his promising career with the New Orleans Saints.
Credit: Walter Iooss Jr./SI
Jim Brown
Brown gets wrapped up on a carry against the Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1965. His 39 yards were his second lowest total of the season.
Credit: Neil Leifer/SI
