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Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown has died at the age of 87, his wife, Monique announced in a post shared on her Instagram account on Friday (May 19).
"It is with profound sadness that I announce the passing of my husband, Jim Brown," Monique Brown wrote. "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."
Brown spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the Cleveland Browns, leading the franchise to a pre-Super Bowl era NFL championship in 1964, as well as being a three-time NFL MVP), eight-time first-team All-Pro, nine-time Pro Bowler and leading the NFL in rushing yards eight times and rushing touchdowns five times.
Brown ranks 11th all-time in rushing yards (12,312) and sixth in rushing touchdowns (106), having retired as the all-time leader in both categories. The former Syracuse standout was also a unanimous All-American in 1956 and enshrined in both the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995 and Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
Brown went on to have a successful post-NFL career in acting and used his platform to be a prominent leader in the Black power movement during the civil rights era, as well as curb gang violence in Los Angeles in later years, which included founding the Amer-I-Can Foundation, a program aimed to help disadvantaged youth and ex-convicts from inner-city.
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