The NFL season will be played without a legend. Former Cleveland running back Jim Brown died in May at the age of 87.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are plenty of people eager to honor the Hall of Fame running back. That includes his longtime NFL franchise, the Cleveland Browns, who are going to honor Brown ahead of the team’s season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
At halftime of the game, Cleveland will hold a ceremony to honor the life of Jim Brown. That is going to include a look back on his time with Cleveland, from 1957-65. Along with that, there will be a No. 32 displayed on a sidelines patch and a decal on the teams’ helmets, as well as a statue outside the stadium that memorializes a meeting between Brown, Muhammad Ali, and the Black Economic Union.
As a player, Jim Brown is remembered for winning three MVP awards and the 1964 NFL Championship. That was before the Super Bowl era. He’s remembered as one of the game’s greatest running backs, having rushed for 12,312 career yards in a nine-season career. He spent every season of that career in Cleveland.
After his playing days, Brown went on to be an actor and a civil rights activist. Along the way, he also became an American icon whose legacy is going to be felt throughout the league this season and beyond.
Nick Chubb is dedicating his career to Jim Brown
In the wake of Jim Brown’s death, current Cleveland running back Nick Chubb announced that he would dedicate the rest of his career to Brown, a figure who clearly has had a massive impact on Chubb.
“I’m definitely playing for him from here on out,” Chubb said.
In 2018, then GM John Dorsey sent Jim Brown college tape of Nick Chubb. He wanted to know what the Hall of Fame running back thought. The response was an emphatic approval of Chubb by Brown.
“Just hearing that, it was a blessing. He saw something in me, and it’s special,” Chubb said.
“He called my name on draft night and that was already special. Then I got a chance to meet him and it was everything. He was able to tell me things, teach me about football and just talk to me about being a person. It was definitely an honor being drafted by the Browns. If I wasn’t drafted, I never would’ve got a chance to meet him.”
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