Football Legend, Actor, and Activist Rest In Peace

Some consider Jim Brown to be the greatest professional football player of all time, and he is probably best known for his football career; however, that was not his only career. He quit the Cleveland Browns to pursue a career in acting, and he found success there too. While he’s not considered the greatest actor ever, he did appear in 30 different films during his career.

@jimbrown via Instagram

Now, the sad news comes that Brown has died at the age of 87. His wife, Monique Brown, broke the sad news, announcing it on Instagram. She wrote, “It is with profound sadness that I announce the passing of my husband, Jim Brown. He passed peacefully last night at our LA home. To the world he was an activist, actor, and football star. To our family, he was a loving and wonderful husband, father and grandfather. Our hearts are broken…” She did not include a cause of death.

 

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A post shared by Jim Brown (@jimbrown)

Upon hearing the sad news, many people and organizations have posted tributes to Brown. The NFL tweeted Brown’s football career stats adding, “Jim Brown will forever be one of the greatest to play the game we love.”

SAG-AFTRA tweeted, “A Pro Football Hall of Famer, sports analyst, actor and activist, Jim Brown’s legacy will live on for generations to come. Our condolences to his wife, children, family and friends.”

Journalist Mike Barnicle tweeted, “Decades ago my Dad returned home after attending a Saturday football game between Holy Cross and Syracuse and told me he’d just watched the greatest football player he’d ever seen, maybe the greatest ever. And he was absolutely correct.”

Besides his football and acting careers, Brown also formed the Black Economic Union and, in 1967, rallied Black athletes to support Ali when he refused to be drafted. Then, in 1988, he founded Amer-I-Can with the goal of rehabilitating former gang members and prisoners.

Brown married Monique Gunthrop in 1977, and they stayed married despite difficult times, including one time when he was arrested for threatening her with bodily harm and another time when he was convicted of vandalism for hitting her car with a shovel. They had two children. He is survived by his wife and children.

Rest in peace.