Guest AuthorOver the years I’ve had the privilege to meet some amazing people. One of the most impressive people I’ve worked with is Jim Brown. Jim has lived an amazing life as an athlete, civil rights advocate and movie star.
Today’s generation of football fans has little appreciation for Jim’s dominance on the gridiron. He played in the NFL for only nine seasons and when he retired he was the all-time leading rusher. In his first season, he was the NFL’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player (he was MVP four times). He was selected to the Pro Bowl all nine seasons he played and led the league in rushing in eight of those seasons. Many consider Jim the greatest running back to ever play the game.
Despite his incredible career as a professional athlete, Jim does not talk about football. In fact, he will tell you that he was even better at lacrosse (he was inducted in to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame). Nor does Jim talk about his movie career (he has appeared in more than 40 films).
Jim Brown is far more focused on the future than the past. That’s why he spends most of his time talking about kids. In 1988 he founded Amer-I-Can, which is a life management skills organization that operates in inner cities and prisons. Jim devotes most of his time helping kids turn their lives around. While I was lieutenant governor, he brought the Amer-I-can program to several communities in Florida and achieved great results.
One night Jim and I were having dinner and I was able to briefly shift the conversation to football. Jim told me about the 1964 NFL Championship Game (this was before there was a Super Bowl). It was the first NFL Title game to be televised.
Jim told me his team, the Cleveland Browns, were heavy underdogs. They were playing the Baltimore Colts, who were led by the brilliant quarterback Johnny Unitas.
“No one thought we could win—but you know what? We won that game 27-0,” Jim said.
I told Jim that was no surprise. “After all, the Browns had you — the greatest player of that time.” What Jim said next was amazing. He said “that may be true — but I didn’t play defense.”
What Jim was saying is that whether you are playing for the NFL Title or doing anything else significant with a group of people, it takes a team to succeed.
In an era when so many in sports (and politics) want to take credit for every positive result in their area code, Jim Brown’s message of sharing the credit and acknowledging the efforts of others is refreshing.
Jeff Kottkamp is President of Jeff Kottkamp, P.A. He served as Florida’s 17th Lieutenant Governor. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
