Jim Brown, All American Birthday

Jim Brown was born on Feb. 17, 1936. He went on to become an above-average athlete and someone who was unwilling to let his amazing athletic career define him. Here is a shot of Jim Brown in the 1957 Cotton Bowl as a member of Syracuse Orangemen. According to OrangeHoops dot com, Brown was "A victim of racial attitudes of the times, Brown came to Syracuse in the fall of 1953 without a scholarship in hand and was the only black player on the freshman football team."

Why was he on Orange Hoops? He was a Syracuse basketball player, as well.

OK. He didn't start for the Orange. Why? From Orange Hoops:

He played basketball his sophomore and junior years at Syracuse, averaging 13.1 points per game. He was a ferocious rebounder, and the best athlete on the floor. He would scored 33 points against Sampson Air Force Base his sophomore season, in a game he did not even start. Brown would not return for his senior season however, because he was not permitted to be a starter. An unwritten rule at Syracuse prohibited the team starting three black athletes in basketball, and Syracuse had Vinnie Cohen and Manny Breland also on the team. Cohen believed Syracuse would have won the national title in basketball in 1957 if Brown had played with them; as it was, they lost in the elite eight.

He went on to have a pretty good NFL career. Here is his worse season, 1962:

Rourth in rushing attempts - 230

Jim Taylor led NFL - 272

Fourth in rushing yards - 996

Jim Taylor - 1474

third in rushing TDs - 13

Jim Taylor 19

Ninth in yards per attempt 4.3

Amos Marsh 5.6 led NFL

Jim Taylor 5.4

Fourth in yards rushing per game - 71.1

Jim Taylor - 105.3

(prorated to 16 games, Brown would gain 1137 yards)

Second in Overall TDs - 18

Taylor 19

Seventh in All-purpose yards - 1513

Timmy Brown led NFL - 2306

Taylor sixth - 1580