The death Thursday of Jim Brown, whose running talent and statistics were incomparable for years after his retirement from the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns, prompts a flashback.
The sport was lacrosse. He was playing in an all-star game at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field. At age 12, I had watched innumerable college games. Never before or since have I watched a better athlete. He was unstoppable.
Brown scored five goals. He ran around and through opponents. Stick checks just bounced off his powerful arms. He faced the best that college lacrosse could produce. Yet, he stood out.
I followed his pro football career. He was an offensive force that few teams could match. His speed and power became redundant on NFL highlight films.
One last comment: I thought he was a compelling movie actor, particularly in the heralded World War II film, “The Dirty Dozen.” Though not a drama school-trained actor, he impressed me with his cinematic ability. Critics might disagree.
Jim Brown lived to 87. He led a life filled with athletic excellence and acting credentials. His civil rights activism was notable.
I will never forget his exploits on a legendary lacrosse field in Baltimore.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. After 44 years in Easton, Howard and his wife, Liz, moved in November 2020 to Annapolis, where they live with Toby, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel who has no regal bearing, just a mellow, enticing disposition.
Skip Trump says
As a lacrosse neophyte who first saw the game as a freshman in college in 1964, I was enthralled and always wished I’d seen Jim Brown play THAT game. What year was the exhibition, Mr. Freedlander? I may well have spaced out on that opportunity…as so many other things to which I wish I’d paid more attention.
Howard Freedlander says
Skip—It was 1957. As I wrote, Jim Brown was other-worldly good.
Richard Owen says
As a student at Syracuse in 1957 I
joined the freshman lacrosse team.
The president of my fraternity, Roy
Simmons, and some other senior
players thought an informal Sunday
afternoon scrimmage with varsity
men meeting the new freshmen would
be fun. At the initial face off after a
scramble for the ball it came my way.
I lunged for the ball at the same time
a black varsity player made the same
move for the ball. We collided. I thought
I’d been hit by a truck. He stopped to
see if I was OK. As I rolled over and looked
up, it was like looking up through the
colossus of Rhodes. Brown looked down
at me and said “ Sorry boy,” and continued
playing. Later that spring on one Saturday
morning he won the discus throw, the high-
jump, and placed second in the javelin
throw and in the afternoon lacrosse game
scored several goals in the first half in a
lopsided contest. On campus he was always
dressed to the nines and a standout. He was
an extraordinary human being.
Richard Owen says
Richard Owen continues:
In the late spring of ‘57 I boarded a
Friday-night bus in Syracuse for an
overnite trip to Baltimore to see
Brownie in the same North-South
all star game Mr Freedlander mentions. The South all-stars tried
their best to control him. But Brown,
with his short stick and the ball pressed close to his chest, could not
be stopped ( a strategy that was later banned). Nonetheless his ability and athleticism soared. He was a marvel to watch.