Defender Associate Editor Aswad Walker interviewed NFL legend Jim Brown in the KTSU studio on the Texas Southern University campus on May 19, 2008, the day after Walker’s youngest child was born, and 15 years to the day of Brown’s passing (May 19, 2023). The following article was originally published May 28, 2008, and focused mainly on Brown’s Ameri-I-Can program. It is being republished today in honor of Brown.
Jim Brown: Legend on and off the field
Jim Brown is a true living legend but not simply for his athletic prowess. Born on February 17, 1936 in St. Simons, Georgia, Brown attended Manhasset High School in Long Island, NY before becoming a four-sport star at Syracuse University (football, lacrosse, track and basketball). Brown is the only athlete inducted into the College Football, Pro Football and Lacrosse Halls of Fame. Brown was the first-round draft choice of the Cleveland Browns in 1957, where he went on to not only earn NFL Rookie of the Year honors, but was elected to nine consecutive Pro Bowls, and was twice named league MVP.
Considered by many to be the greatest football player to ever live, including the writers at The Sporting News who proclaimed Brown as such in 2002, an official statement released by members of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame stated that Brown was “widely considered to be the greatest lacrosse player ever.” In addition, renowned sportswriter Bert Sugar named Brown #1 in his book “The Greatest Athletes of All Time.”
On July 14, 1966 Brown walked away from pro football at the height of his career, when Browns owner Art Modell insisted that Brown report to training camp instead of finishing his work on the movie “The Dirty Dozen.” Had Brown put off his acting career and continued playing football, there is no telling how the record books would differ today. Still, Brown departed as the NFL record holder for both single-season (1,863 in 1963) and career rushing (12,312 yards), as well as the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (106), total touchdowns (126), and all-purpose yards (15,549). He was the first player ever to reach the 100-rushing-touchdowns milestone, and only a few others have done so since, despite the league’s expansion to a 16-game season in 1978 (Brown’s first four seasons were only 12 games, and his last five were 14 games).
Yet, Brown’s legend was not to be contained within the white lines of the gridiron. Neither was it confined to his work in 40-plus motion pictures. While at the height of his pro football career, Brown, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Bobby Mitchell (Brown’s running mate in Cleveland from 1958-1961) and others, routinely put his superstar status, pay check, and public adoration on the line to speak out against injustices befalling the Black community. Film Director Spike Lee chronicled Brown’s multi-layered life in his 2002 film “Jim Brown: All-American,” providing an in depth view of Brown’s profound impact on sports as well as on social justice issues.
Brown’s activist spirit remained alive and well in him long after his playing days, and remains fully intact today. Brown and his organization, Amer-I-Can, which teaches leadership skills and character development, have teamed up with Texas Southern University’s Summer Academy, a program designed to prepare high school graduates for college level coursework that will run from June 6 through July 31, to make a difference in the lives of young men of all races in need of direction.
The Defender sat down with Brown to discuss this partnership, how it came about, and where it is headed.
Defender: How did you and Amer-I-Can become a part of TSU’s conditional summer academic program? What was it about TSU’s program and/or your contact person that attracted you?
Brown: Richard Johnson, who is a close friend of George Foreman’s, and I have worked on many different projects over the years. Angola (Prison) was one—preaching sermons, fighting for pardons, formulating chapels in prisons, and generally working with inmate populations. George Foreman has always been one of our top donors for whatever projects Richard and I are working on. Teaming up with TSU was Richard’s brainchild. He recognized that TSU had so much potential for changing the lives of young men, and he was right. TSU has all the ingredients in place.
See, we’ve gotten away from an education focus. Athletes today are focused solely on the money. TSU now has an administration that is ready to implement programs and help kids. Our program, Amer-I-Can, is all about teaching life-skills, taking responsibility for your actions, communication skills, problem solving skills, job seeking skills—things many young men are not getting at home.
All the principals are in place at TSU for success. We have an administration and program leaders that can relate to these young men, and are of like minds. Our objective is the same — raising graduation rates. And it benefits everyone when we can create more young scholars—the university, the community, these young men, the veterans we employ to work with these young men, the community, and families. It’s less a business and more of a service.
Defender: What does the program offer participants that can help change their lives?
Brown: Male leadership. We provide these young men with real men they can look up to, women can look up to. We are supplying veterans who can’t find work after serving their country with jobs with dignity and purpose, giving these veterans the respect they deserve. Our program is re-introducing real men to our communities.
Many of our young men are affiliated with gangs. Gangs operate using fear. They put their lives on the line for nonsense. Our program employs vets who have put their life on the line for something worthy — their country. You can’t get a higher calling than that. And these vets have no fear; they’re not intimidated by these gang bangers. In our program partnership with TSU, young men can interact with university presidents, CEOs of companies, vets, professors of life management — men who are real men. Men who are being responsible and taking care of business, not men trying to be macho.
Defender: Explain the birth of Amer-I-Can. Was this the program you used when working with gangs in LA?
Brown: People ask me “Why do you just work with the brothers; are you trying to segregate?” We’re not trying to segregate. We’re trying to stop the killings and the foolishness, and it’s the young men doing the killing. But yes, it was born out of my work with LA gangs. I found the need for an educational approach. All of the gang members thought they were brilliant. But in our program we have a curriculum that they have to answer to.
Education generally goes to the numbers. Human development, however, isn’t about the numbers, its personality-driven. It’s about relationships. With Amer-I-Can I have 20 years worth of relationships. That’s why these young men trust me. That’s why they respect me. I’ve had over 400-plus meetings with Bloods and Crips and never had a gun pulled on me; never had anyone put their hands on me. And some people say, “Well that’s because you’re Big Jim Brown.” No that doesn’t mean anything to them. What means something to them is that you care about them and don’t look at them as second-class citizens.
I’ve held 90 percent of my meetings with them in my home. They realize that with me there is no separation between what I do outside my home and inside. Caring is huge.
Defender: It seems athletes in your generation were more apt to get involved in social issues than professional athletes today. Is this a correct observation; if so, what is the biggest difference you see in today’s athletes?
Brown: With the great integration move some things were lost. Older athletes came up with tradition. We were able to see Black folk giving big donations to universities, great college bands, HBCU legends like Willie Galimore (American footballrunning back for the Chicago Bears from 1957–1963 who attended Florida A&M University) and others.
There was a divide that came after the ‘60s. The system saw it could use the Black man’s athletic skills for profit so we were groomed to be athletes not scholars. So these athletes today haven’t had the educational supports that they should have, the supports older athletes used to have. Then you have young men becoming millionaires one year out of college. You have a kid governing his life and the lives of others, hiring people; people answering to them. Most of these kids don’t know their history. But they have money power. So who’s going to pull their coat or teach them anything?
But once you get their attention with someone they respect, and show that you care and that you respect their humanity, they are willing to learn. (Current professional football players) Kellen Winslow Jr (K2), Braylon Edwards, Ray Lewis, Jeremy Shockey… they were all very willing to listen and learn. In fact, I have found that these young men want to learn. They want an older male presence in their lives, one they can respect. So many of them didn’t have that presence growing up. So, many of them look to me as a surrogate father figure. They want it.
Defender: Who inspired you in your youth to become the man you are? Was it a certain person or certain experiences that led you to athletics and also toward community activism?
Brown: My high school principal, Dr. Collins, was a big influence. So was a lawyer, Kenny Malloy. But the biggest influence in my life was my high school football coach, Ed Walsh. He’s now 90-plus years old, but when I was going to leave Syracuse University because they were so racist, he talked me into staying. They had me at fifth string running back and on the bench. I said, “Man, I’ve had enough of this.” But Coach Walsh told me to not let anyone tell me what I can and can’t do.
So eventually, in a bowl game, I had what many considered a great game (the 1957 Cotton Bowl which pitted Texas Christian University vs. Syracuse; in the game, Brown ran for 132 yards and three touchdowns, kicked three extra points, ran for 96 more yards on kickoff returns, and had five tackles on defense). I became a college All-American. And I made up my mind at that point that I would never again let someone else dictate to me what I could or could not do. So now, you have to fight to take it from me.
Facts about Jim Brown’s Amer-I-Can program
Year founded:
1988
Purpose founded:
To provide current and former gang members with an educational component to teach life management skills
Points of operation:
Schools, communities, prisons, college campuses
Accomplishments:
Since its inception, more than 500,000 youth and young adults have completed the program. Students who complete the Amer-I-Can curriculum experience on average a 60% decrease in disciplinary incidents, a 38% decrease in absences, and a 35% increase in their grade point averages.
Locations:
The program currently operates in more than 16 states and in the United Kingdom, Belize and South Africa
Program:
The Amer-I-Can program is a 60-90 hour, 15-chapter life management skills curriculum that focuses on leadership and character development.
Partnership:
Jim Brown and the Amer-I-Can program is partnering with TSU’s Summer Academy. Professors of Life Management Skills will be employed to work with Summer Academy participants in an effort to shore up their college readiness for the fall.
