Jim Brown Popular Books
Jim Brown Biography & Facts
James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American football fullback, civil rights activist, and actor. He played for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history, Brown was a Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the AP NFL Most Valuable Player three times, and won an NFL championship with the Browns in 1964. He led the league in rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he held most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever. Brown earned unanimous All-America honors playing college football at Syracuse University, where he was an all-around player for the Syracuse Orangemen football team. The team later retired his number 44 jersey, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. He is also widely considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, and the Premier Lacrosse League MVP Award is named in his honor. Brown also excelled in basketball and track and field. In his professional career, Brown carried the ball 2,359 times for 12,312 rushing yards and 106 touchdowns, which were all records when he retired. He averaged 104.3 rushing yards per game and is the only player in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career. Brown was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He was named to the NFL's 50th, 75th, and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, composed of the best players in NFL history. Brown was honored at the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship as the greatest college football player of all time. His number 32 jersey is retired by the Browns. Shortly before the end of his football career, Brown became an actor. He retired at the peak of his football career to pursue an acting career. He obtained 53 acting credits and several leading roles throughout the 1970s. He has been described as Hollywood's first black action hero and his role in the 1969 film 100 Rifles made cinematic history for featuring interracial love scenes. Brown was one of the few athletes, and among the most prominent African Americans, to speak out on racial issues as the civil rights movement was growing in the 1950s. He participated in the Cleveland Summit after Muhammad Ali faced imprisonment for refusing to enter the draft for the Vietnam War, and he founded the Black Economic Union to help promote economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses. Brown later launched a foundation focused on diverting at-risk youth from violence through teaching them life skills, through which he facilitated the Watts truce between rival street gangs in Los Angeles. Early life Brown was born on St. Simons Island, Georgia, to Swinton Brown, a professional boxer, and his wife, Theresa, a homemaker. He attended Manhasset Secondary School in Manhasset, New York. Brown earned 13 letters playing football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and running track. Mr. Brown credits his self-reliance to having grown up on Saint Simons Island, a community off the coast of Georgia where he was raised by his grandmother and where racism did not affect him directly. At the age of eight, he moved to Manhasset, New York, on Long Island, where his mother worked as a domestic. It was at Manhasset High School that he became a football star and athletic legend. Brown averaged a Long Island record 38 points per game for his basketball team. That record was later broken by future Boston Red Sox star and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski of Bridgehampton. College career Lawyer and Syracuse University lacrosse star Kenneth Molloy, who was involved with the lacrosse program at Manhasset, was a benefactor of Brown and persuaded his alma mater to admit him, which was difficult because according to Molloy, "[Syracuse] did not want black athletes." Brown was the only African-American player on the football team as a freshman in 1953, and promises of a full scholarship in the second half of the year were not honored; Molloy personally financed and fundraised for Brown's first year at the school. He endured racist taunts while he was at Syracuse. He was treated differently from teammates: he was housed in a non-athlete dormitory, warned against dating Caucasian women, and the coaching staff attempted to put him at other positions, including punter, lineman, and wide receiver. As a sophomore at Syracuse, Brown was the second-leading rusher on the team. As a junior, he rushed for 676 yards (5.2 per carry). In his senior year in 1956, Brown was a consensus first-team All-American. He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and set school records for highest season rush average (6.2) and most rushing touchdowns in a single game (6). He ran for 986 yards—third-most in the country despite Syracuse playing only eight games—and scored 14 touchdowns. In the regular-season finale, a 61–7 rout of Colgate, he rushed for 197 yards, scored six touchdowns, and kicked seven extra points for a school-record 43 points. Then in the Cotton Bowl, he rushed for 132 yards, scored three touchdowns, and kicked three extra points, but a blocked extra point after Syracuse's third touchdown was the difference as TCU won 28–27. In addition to his football accomplishments, he excelled in basketball, track, and especially lacrosse. As a sophomore, he was the second-leading scorer for the basketball team (15 ppg), and earned a letter on the track team. In 1955, he finished in fifth place in the National Championship decathlon. His junior year, he averaged 11.3 points in basketball, and was named a second-team All-American in lacrosse. His senior year, he was named a first-team All-American in lacrosse (43 goals in 10 games to rank second in scoring nationally). Brown was so dominant in the game, that lacrosse rules were changed requiring a lacrosse player to keep their stick in constant motion when carrying the ball (instead of holding it close to his body). There is currently no rule in lacrosse that requires a player to keep their stick in motion. He is in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. The JMA Wireless Dome has an 800 square-foot tapestry depicting Brown in football and lacrosse uniforms with the words "Greatest Player Ever". While in college, Brown participated in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. After graduating he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. During his time in the NFL, Brown continued his military commitment as a member of the United States Army Reserve. He served for four years and was discharged with the rank of captain. Professional career Brown was taken in the first round of the 1957 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns, the sixth overall selection. In the ninth game of his rookie season, against the Los Angeles Rams he rushed for 237 yards, setting.... Discover the Jim Brown popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jim Brown books.
Best Seller Jim Brown Books of 2024
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American Nightmare
Jerrold M. PackardFor a hundred years after the end of the Civil War, a quarter of all Americans lived under a system of legalized segregation called Jim Crow. Together with its rigidly enforced ca...
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The Canadaland Guide to Canada
Jesse BrownDo you think of Canada as that “nice” country with free health care, majestic woodlands, and polite people?Think again.The CANADALAND Guide to Canada (Published in America) is an o...
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We Speak for Ourselves
D. WatkinsFrom the row houses of Baltimore to the stoops of Brooklyn, the New York Times bestselling author of The Cook Up lays bare the voices of the most vulnerable and allows their storie...
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Keith Urban
Jeff ApterIn this definitive biography of Keith Urban, music biographer Jeff Apter presents the legendary Australian country star turned international superstar whose career spans the Nashvi...
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Water Tossing Boulders
Adrienne BerardA generation before Brown v. Board of Education struck down America’s “separate but equal” doctrine, one Chinese family and an eccentric Mississippi lawyer fought for desegregation...
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Heads of the Colored People
Nafissa Thompson-SpiresWinner of the PEN Open Book Award Winner of the Whiting Award Longlisted for the National Book Award and Aspen Words Literary Prize Nominated for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize...
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Nobody
Marc Lamont HillNamed a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus ReviewsA New York Times Editor’s ChoiceNautilus Award Winner“A worthy and necessary addition to the contemporary canon of civil rights liter...
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The Fire This Time
Jesmyn WardThe New York Times bestseller, these groundbreaking essays and poems about racecollected by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward and written by the most important voices of her g...
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Stark Mad Abolitionists
Robert K. Sutton & Bob DoleA town at the center of the United States becomes the site of an ongoing struggle for freedom and equality.In May, 1854, Massachusetts was in an uproar. A judge, bound by the Fugit...
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Jim Brown
Dave ZirinA unique biography of Jim Brownfootball legend, Hollywood star, and controversial activistwritten by acclaimed sports journalist Dave Zirin.Jim Brown is recognized as perhaps the g...
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Healing Justice Lineages
Cara Page & Erica WoodlandA profound offering and call to actioncollective stories, testimonials, and incantations for renewing political and spiritual liberation grounded in Black, Indigenous, People of Co...
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The Lessons of Ubuntu
Mark MathabaneA roadmap to healing America’s wounds, bridging the racial divide, and diminishing our anger.Mathabane touched the hearts of millions of people around the world with his powerful m...
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We Had a Little Real Estate Problem
Kliph NesteroffA Best Book of 2021 by NPR and EsquireFrom Kliph Nesteroff, “the human encyclopedia of comedy” (VICE), comes the important and underappreciated story of Native Americans and comedy...
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Children of Fire
Thomas C. HoltOrdinary people don't experience history as it is taught by historians. They live across the convenient chronological divides we impose on the past. The same people who lived throu...
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The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Richard WormserBetween 1880 and 1954, African Americans dedicated their energies, and sometimes their lives, to defeating segregation. During these times, characterized by some as "worse than sla...
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Leading Without Authority
Keith Ferrazzi & Noel WeyrichThe #1 New York Times bestselling author of Never Eat Alone redefines collaboration with a radical new workplace operating system in which leadership no longer demands an offi...
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The Black Male Handbook
Kevin PowellAuthor and activist Kevin Powell and contributors Lasana Omar Hotep, Jeff Johnson, Byron Hurt, Dr. William Jelani Cobb, Ryan Mack, Kendrick B. Nathaniel, and Dr. Andre L. Brown del...
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Tales from the Cleveland Browns Sideline
Tony GrossiOhio coaching legend Paul Brown said he wanted to create "the New York Yankees of pro football" when he assembled the Cleveland Browns from scratch in 1946. Despite his ambition, n...
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The Football 100
The AthleticA masterful ode to America’s gameand an unforgettable portrait of its greatest legends written by America’s best sportswriters.It is a question that has bedeviled football fans for...
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Twelve Days in May
Larry Dane BrimnerRobert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Winner“An engaging and accessible account” for young readers about the Freedom Riders who led the landmark 1961 protests against segregati...
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Tales from the Seattle Seahawks Sideline
Steve Raible & Mike SandoFrom the hilarious to the surreal, from inside the huddle to inside the broadcast booth, twentyeightyear Seattle Seahawks veteran Steve Raible takes fans to places they never knew ...
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A Colony in a Nation
Chris HayesNew York Times BestsellerNew York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice "An essential and groundbreaking text in the effort to understand how American criminal justice went so badly aw...
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Thurgood Marshall
Montrew DunhamGet to know the first African American Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall in this middle grade nonfiction biography of his early years!The childhood of civil rights hero and S...
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The Caregiver
Samuel ParkFrom the critically acclaimed author of This Burns My Heart comes a “luminous motherdaughter saga” (Entertainment Weekly) about a young woman who is forced to flee 1980s Brazil for...
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Why Fantasy Football Matters
Erik Barmack & Max HandelmanTalking Trash, Trading Studs, and Drafting Sleepers an Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Obsession U.S. businesses lose $200 million in productivity each football season be...
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Turn Away Thy Son
Elizabeth JacowayAn eyeopening, meticulously researched work by a Little Rock native that reveals the story behind the headlines of the famous, school desegregation crisis through thirty years wort...
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The Folds
Clint TownsendOn July 23rd, 1978, Danny Lee Albright turned ten years old. As a birthday present, his father, Tommy Lee, surprised Danny and his four friends with a trip to meet Superman at the ...
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The Souls of Black Folk
W.E.B. DuboisEnriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentaryeach book includes educational tools alongside the text, en...
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Football Done Right
Michael LombardiFormer NFL general manager and threetime Super Bowl winner Michael Lombardi takes readers on the ultimate journey through the NFL's history to present his calls on the greatest pla...
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The Family Tree
Karen BrananIn the tradition of Slaves in the Family, the provocative true account of the hanging of four black people by a white lynch mob in 1912written by the greatgranddaughter of the sher...
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Metaracism
Tricia RoseThe definitive book on how systemic racism in America really works, revealing the vast and often hidden network of interconnected policies, practices, and beliefs that combine to d...
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The Life of Dad
Jon FinkelA heartwarming and enlightening collection of advice, wisdom, and practical skills featuring an allstar cast of fathers from the popular online community Life of Dad. Becoming a da...
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Reforming Jim Crow
Kimberley JohnsonHistorians of the Civil Rights era typically treat the key events of the 1950s Brown v. Board of Education, sitins, bus boycotts, and marchesas a revolutionary social upheaval that...
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A Most Tolerant Little Town
Rachel Louise MartinA “masterful” (Taylor Branch) and “striking” (The New Yorker) portrait of a small town living through tumultuous times, this propulsive piece of forgotten civil rights historyabout...
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Forex Trading - The Basics Explained in Simple Terms
Jim BrownJim's 3 FOREX books are consistently ranked BEST SELLERS and there is a very good reason for this. At no extra cost or oncosts. Jim shares with his readers:His custom indicators fo...
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The Cloudbuster Nine
Anne R. Keene & Claudia WilliamsIn 1943, while the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals were winning pennants and meeting in that year's World Series, Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and Johnny Sain practice...
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Jim Brown
Mike FreemanHe intimidated people on and off the football field. He was brutal yet brilliant, narcissistic yet magnanimous, relentless yet unyielding. Most of all, he was the greatest football...
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Frederick Douglass
David W. BlightWinner of the Pulitzer Prize in History“Extraordinary…a great American biography” (The New Yorker) of the most important African American of the 19th century: Frederick Douglass, t...