Help Jim Brown

[Wallo]

Ok. The other night before the Marquette game, they were running some analysis between Brown and Earnhardt using "science" to determine which was the better in that bracket. Seemed like a bit of a reach, but Brown came out on top. When they showed the complete rundown, I figured it would come down to Brown and Jordan with Jordan inching him out like the Sports Century thing. You have to wonder why Jim Thorpe wasn't included in the initial listing.

Jim Thorpe--------------- not even close !!

 

[SU2NASA]

You're all way off base.

 

[OrangePA]

Not going to argue with you, but Jim Brown's Heisman is residing at Paul Hornung's house.

And Donnie McPherson's is at Tim Brown's house, right?

And Bo Jackson's baseball HOF entry is laying on the ground at LA Coliseum following a bizzare hip injury, right?

I guess I'm not talking about what ifs.

I'm talking about talent and performance on the field - Jackson did things that fans could see that nobody did on the baseball field.

And he pretty much did the same things on the football field - arguably. He may not have been Jim Brown on the field - maybe. But he was as close to JB as I ever saw. (again I think he probably had more size and more speed and strength than Brown).

There was nobody like him in our lifetime - I am very confident in making that statement.

 

[rrlbees]

He did things on baseball diamond never seen before.

And Jim Brown caused a rule change in a sport.

Sent using my Commodore 64

 

[OrangePA]

And Jim Brown caused a rule change in a sport.

Sent using my Commodore 64

And so did Lew Alcindor, George Mikan, and Mel Blount. I'm not sure that's a dispositive factor.

When JB played lacrosse in the 1950s there was nobody that even approached him in terms of size or speed. He was playing against guys like Dick Schapp [Cornell] for gosh sakes! He was a freak.

When Bo Jackson played football there were many more huge, fast athletes on the field than there were in the 1950s and 1960s.

 

[Orangeyes]

ESPN: Bo Jackson, not Jim Brown, is greatest athlete of all time

 

[Noexcuse]

ESPN: Bo Jackson, not Jim Brown, is greatest athlete of all time

Well I guess that settles that debate. There's no disputing science.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Well I guess that settles that debate. There's no disputing science.

If there's one thing that we've learned, there's no disputing ESPN (tongue planted firmly in cheek).

 

[SWC75]

These sorts of contests or lists are really a tribute to everyone on them. I'll just add that Big Jim scored 38 points a game as a high school basketball player and was planning to go to the Melbourne Olympics to compete in the decathlon until Ben Schwartzwalder talked him out of it. Australia is in the southern hemisphere and their summer is our winter so the Olympics was held in November. Jim would not have been available for his senior football seaosn if he had gone.

 

[cmr27]

1. You can't hurt The Great Jim Brown. He never missed a game.

2. You CAN hurt Bo Jackson. Florida had a guy named Alonzo Johnson who administered a "deep thigh bruise" that kept Bo out of the remainder of the Florida-Auburn game during Jackson's Heisman year.

3. Bo suffered a career ending injury in what was roughly his 40th pro football game.

4. I quote The Great Jim Brown: "The one thing that stands is that when it was time to play the game, I was there. I played nine seasons and never missed a game. Guys accept the fact now that they can get shaken up, come out, and get themselves together."

5. Chuck Bednarik once admiringly said that even though he constantly hit The Great Jim Brown illegally when the play was over, he could never hurt him. "He would just get up, kind of say "Hi" and he just kept coming." Lesser players, Bednarik noted, would get angry at his illegal hits but The Great Jim Brown didn't mind.

6. For all the talk about speed, strength and so on, durability is THE most important football trait. It's a rough game. The guys who can play a long time are more valuable than the guys who only last a little while.

 

[Orangeyes]

1. You can't hurt The Great Jim Brown. He never missed a game.

2. You CAN hurt Bo Jackson. Florida had a guy named Alonzo Johnson who administered a "deep thigh bruise" that kept Bo out of the remainder of the Florida-Auburn game during Jackson's Heisman year.

3. Bo suffered a career ending injury in what was roughly his 40th pro football game.

4. I quote The Great Jim Brown: "The one thing that stands is that when it was time to play the game, I was there. I played nine seasons and never missed a game. Guys accept the fact now that they can get shaken up, come out, and get themselves together."

5. Chuck Bednarik once admiringly said that even though he constantly hit The Great Jim Brown illegally when the play was over, he could never hurt him. "He would just get up, kind of say "Hi" and he just kept coming." Lesser players, Bednarik noted, would get angry at his illegal hits but The Great Jim Brown didn't mind.

6. For all the talk about speed, strength and so on, durability is THE most important football trait. It's a rough game. The guys who can play a long time are more valuable than the guys who only last a little while.

Remember how angry Jim Brown got with the Franco Harris method? As soon as the Steeler running back saw someone coming and he was close to the sidelines, Harris would make a quick exit. In today's game most players do that and the announcers call it a wise move. Jim Brown was "hard nosed" and wouldn't be caught dead doing that and he never suffered an injury.

 

[Noexcuse]

When his career rushing record was being threatened, Brown contemplated coming out of retirement. He was 50 years old at the time. People took him seriously.

 

[CaliCuse]

I figured Ali.

But Bo deserves it.

Greatest of all time.

Aloi was a great fighter but hardly a great athlete. He was conditioned and had quick hands Joe Louis would have gotten to him in 5 Its either one of two Jims. Brown or Thorpe

 

[cmr27]

Remember how angry Jim Brown got with the Franco Harris method? As soon as the Steeler running back saw someone coming and he was close to the sidelines, Harris would make a quick exit. In today's game most players do that and the announcers call it a wise move. Jim Brown was "hard nosed" and wouldn't be caught dead doing that and he never suffered an injury.

The comparison between Franco Harris and The Great Jim Brown is brilliant and profound. I, much like The Great Jim Brown, believe running backs have to be held to a higher standard than other players. Accordingly, both of us and The Great Jim Brown believe Franco should be castigated for running out of bounds. But to be fair to Franco, he wasn't afraid. He was just lazy.

When it mattered, Franco always delivered. As good as he was in the regular season, he had better postseason stats even though he was facing some of the greatest defenses ever (Shula's Dolphins in their glory days, Madden's Raiders in their glory days, Landry's defense at its best. The Purple People Eaters and more).

Franco Harris lived his life in precisely the same manner as Eli Manning, and Franco was honest about it. Someone asked him why he ran out of bounds when the stakes were low. "Is every day Christmas? Is every day Easter? Not to me, it isn't," Franco replied, shaking his head at what he regarded as a silly question.

Franco was a utilitarian who calculated run-of-the-mill carries in run-of-the-mill situations in regular season games weren't worth as much effort as short yardage situations in postseason.

Analytically speaking, Franco is right and The Great Jim Brown is wrong. Only when we acknowledge morality and the philosophy of right and wrong are we moved to the side of The Great Jim Brown. I detest all of the times Franco was lazy. But when it mattered, he wasn't afraid. If he had to do it, he could do it. He proved it many times.

 

[jekelish]

Jim Brown is the greatest football player of all-time.

Bo Jackson, I think, was a better athlete. Bo was just a freak of nature. Was Jim Brown a once in a generation athlete? Of course he was. Bo, however, was just...well, there really aren't words to describe how freakishly athletic he was.

That said, I think in terms of pure athleticism, LeBron James is above them both. And I hate LeBron, but he's on a different world with his combination of size, strength, quickness, agility, speed, etc.

He's still no MJ on the court, though.