Jim Brown made a very different kind of off-field history

Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Brown made history in one very different way off the field

By Sean Keane | Last updated 5/19/23

The late Jim Brown was a groundbreaking multi-sport athlete, but he was also a trailblazer when it came to male nudity.

Brown was the first - and possibly only - member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to do a full-frontal centerfold for Playgirl magazine, back in 1974.

He retired from professional football before the 1966 season, after Browns owner Art Modell threatened to fine him for missing training camp to film "The Dirty Dozen." Brown announced his retirement on the set of the blockbuster film and went on to star in 16 films between 1967 and 1974.

Jim Brown in The Dirty Dozen. Classic.
RIP to a #CLE Legendpic.twitter.com/ZIxcprw0Za
— Jen (@JenXVintage73) May 19, 2023

But just as Brown got "bored" with football, just being a movie star didn't satisfy Brown's intellectual curiosity. He also wanted to model, and in 1974, he posed nude for Playgirl. Extremely nude.

Former NFL player Fred Williamson, who later co-starred with Brown in numerous action movies, had shown off most of his body in the magazine the year before. The difference is, Williamson isn't in the Hall of Fame. And like Brown did 106 times as an NFL player, he went all the way.

Now when an NFL player goes full frontal, it generally means he is harassing a reporter with unwanted text messages or that a TV camera accidentally caught someone in the locker room. But Brown was unashamed. In his autobiography, "Out of Bounds," he talked openly about his sex life and various affairs with actresses, even claiming he "introduced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to menage a trois."

Whether it was football, lacrosse, acting or male modeling, Jim Brown was one of a kind. R.I.P. to a truly great athlete, who was brave in every area.

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