NFL legend Jim Brown dies – dead at 87

Jim Brown, Hall of Fame running back for the NFL Browns, during an interview with the press at the Civil Rights Summit at the LBJ Presidential Library on April 9, 2014. Photo Credit: Marsha Miller via LBJ Library on Flickr

NFL icon Jim Brown has died at 87, his family confirmed Friday.

Brown’s wife Monique confirmed on his Instagram that the former NFL running back died peacefully at home on Thursday night at the age of 87.

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Arguably the greatest football player of all time, Brown was a multi-sport star at Syracuse, where he played football, basketball, track and field, and lacrosse. He went on to play in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns, where he led the NFL in rushing eight times in his nine seasons. He led the team to an NFL championship in 1964, and retired as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, a mark he held for 18 years before it was broken by Walter Payton. Most remarkably, Brown’s many statistical accomplishments came about in just nine seasons, as he retired at the age of 29 in 1966.

After his retirement, Brown had a successful film career, and was also a prominent social activist, beginning with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Some of his stances on that front sparked controversy in recent years.

Brown remains No. 11 on the NFL’s career rushing yards list with 12,312 rushing yards, despite his relatively short career and the fact that it ended in 1965.

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