Jim Brown Highlights

[SWC75]

In the post on the basketball board entitled "The Amazing Mr. Groat, Jim Brown's name came up as the ultimate multi-sport athlete and then as a figure who transformed his sport. I listed the all-time leading NFL rushers stats on a per game and per carry basis. I decided to re-post something I did a couple of years ago in which I summarized his career and then tried to identify the runs depicted in the various highlight films available on You-Tube. But it obviously belongs on the football board, not the basketball board.

Jim’s Touchdowns

10/13/57 vs. Eagles at Cleveland 5 yard pass from O’Connell (Browns won, 24-7)
10/20/57 vs. Eagles at Philadelphia 1 yard run, (lost 7-17)
10/27/57 vs. Cardinals at Chicago 1 yard run (won 17-7)
11/3/57 vs. Redskins at Cleveland 1 yard run, 9 yard run (won 21-17)
11/24/57 vs. Rams at Cleveland 69 yard run, 1 yard run, 1 yard run 3 yard run (won 45-31)
12/15/57 vs. Giants at New York 20 yard run (won 34-28)
12/29/57 vs. Lions at Detroit (NFL championship game) 29 yard run, (lost 14-59)

9/28/58 vs. Rams at Los Angeles 38 yard run, 5 yard run (won 30-27)
10/5/58 vs. Steelers at Pittsburgh 23 yard run, 59 yard run, 3 yard run (won 45-12)
10/12/58 vs. Cardinals at Cleveland 3 yard run, 1 yard run, 7 yard run (won 35-28)
10/19/58 vs. Steelers at Cleveland 27 yard pass from Plum, 48 yard run (won 27-10)
10/26/58 vs. Cardinals at Chicago 7 yard run, 41 yard run, 62 yard run, 2 yard run (won 38-24)
11/2/58 vs. Giants at Cleveland 58 yard run (lost 17-21)
11/16/58 vs. Redskins at Washington 1 yard run, 5 yard run (won 20-10)
12/14/58 vs. Giants at New York 65 yard run (lost 10-13)

10/4/59 vs. Cardinals at Chicago 2 yard run, 1 yard run (won 34-7)
10/25/59 vs. Redskins at Cleveland 30 yard run (won 34-7)
11/1/59 vs. Colts at Baltimore 70 yard run, 17 yard run, 3 yard run, 1 yard run, 1 yard run, (won 38-31) This was one of those “time machine” games- you’d love to go back and see it. Johnny Unitas threw for 397 yards and 4 TDs but Jim ran for 178 yards and 5 TDs)
11/8/59 vs. Eagles at Cleveland 20 yard run, 1 yard run (won 28-7)
11/29/59 vs. 49ers at Cleveland 1 yard run, 2 yard run (lost 20-21)
12/13/59 vs. Eagles at Philadelphia 1 yard run, 4 yard run (won 28-21)

9/25/60 vs. Eagles at Philadelphia 1 yard run (won 41-24)
10/2/60 vs. Steelers at Cleveland 2 yard run (won 28-20)
10/16/60 vs. Cowboys at Dallas 5 yard run (won 48-7)
10/23/60 vs. Eagles at Cleveland 71 yard run (lost 29-31)
10/30/60 vs. Redskins at Washington 25 yard run (won 31-10)
11/13/60 vs. Cardinals at Cleveland 1 yard run, 3 yard run (won 28-27)
12/4/60 vs. Redskins at Cleveland 30 yard pass from Plum (won 27-16)
12/11/60 vs. Bears at Cleveland 4 yard run, (won 42-0)
12/18/60 vs. Giants at New York 37 yard pass from Plum, 11 yard run (won 48-34)

10/1/61 vs. Cowboys at Cleveland 7 yard run (won 25-7)
11/5/61 vs. Steelers at Cleveland 3 yard run (lost 13-17)
11/12/61 vs. Redskins at Washington threw 37 yard TD pass to Renfro (won 17-6)
11/19/61 vs. Eagles at Cleveland 3 yard run, 3 yard run, 1 yard run, 8 yard run (won 45-24)
11/26/61 vs. Giants at Cleveland 1 yard run (lost 21-37)
12/3/61 vs. Cowboys at Dallas 1 yard run, 21 yard pass from Plum (won 38-17)
12/10/61 vs. Bears at Chicago 77 yard pass from Plum (lost 14-17)

9/10/62 vs. Giants at Cleveland 9 yard run, (won 17-7)
9/30/62 vs. Eagles at Philadelphia 5 yard run (lost 7-35)
10/7/62 vs. Cowboys at Cleveland 2 yard run, 50 yard pass from Ninowski (won 19-10)
10/14/62 vs. Colts at Cleveland 53 yard pass from Ninowski (lost 14-36)
10/21/62 vs. Cardinals at St. Louis 4 yard run (won 34-7)
10/28/62 vs. Steelers at Pittsburgh 15 yard pass from Ryan, 1 yard run (won 41-14)
11/18/62 vs. Cardinals at Cleveland 3 yard run, 4 yard run, 16 yard run, 7 yard run (won 38-14)
11/25/62 vs. Steelers at Cleveland 34 yard pass from Ryan, 1 yard run, 1 yard run (won 35-14)
12/9/62 vs. Giants at New York 4 yard run, (lost 13-17)
12/15/62 vs. 49ers at San Francisco 5 yard run, 12 yard run, (won 13-10)

9/15/63 vs. Redskins at Cleveland 83 yard pass from Ryan, 10 yard run, 80 yard run (won 37-14)
9/22/63 vs. Cowboys at Dallas 71 yard run, 62 yard run (won 41-24)
9/29/63 vs. Rams at Cleveland 17 yard run (won 20-6)
10/5/63 vs. Steelers at Cleveland 8 yard run (won 35-23)
10/13/63 vs. Giants at New York 1 yard run, 72 yard pass from Ryan, 32 yard run (won 35-24)
10/20/63 vs. Eagles at Cleveland 10 yard run (won 37-7)
11/3/63 vs. Eagles at Philadelphia 62 yard run (won 23-17)
11/17/63 vs. Cardinals at Cleveland 59 yard run (lost 14-20)
12/1/63 vs. Cardinals at St. Louis 1 yard run, 3 yard run (won 24-10)

9/13/64 vs. Redskins at Washington 1 yard run, 1 yard run ((won 27-13)
9/20/64 vs. Cardinals at St. Louis 1 yard run, (tied 33-33)
9/27/64 vs. Eagles at Philadelphia 40 yard pass from Ryan (won 28-20)
11/8/64 vs. Redskins at Cleveland 2 yard run, threw 13 yard pass to Collins (won 34-24)
11/15/64 vs. Lions at Cleveland 6 yard run, 2 yard run (won 37-21)
11/22/64 vs. Packers at Green Bay 1yard run (lost 21-28)
12/12/64 vs. Giants at New York 8 yard pass from Ryan (won 52-20)

10/3/65 vs. Eagles at Philadelphia 4 yard run, 2 yard run, 4 yard run (won 35-17)
10/9/65 vs. Steelers at Cleveland 4 yard run, 1 yard run (won 24-19)
10/17/65 vs. Cowboys at Cleveland 10 yard run (won 23-17)
10/24/65 vs. Giants at New York 5 yard run, 39 yard pass to Collins (won 38-14)
10/31/65 vs. Vikings at Cleveland 1 yard run (lost 17-27)
11/7/65 vs. Eagles at Cleveland 7 yard run, 32 yard pass from Ryan, 1 yard run (won 38-34)
11/14/65 vs. Giants at Cleveland 3 yard run, 4 yard run , 17 yard run (won 34-21)
11/21/65 vs. Cowboys at Dallas 3 yard run (won 24-17)
11/28/65 vs. Steelers at Pittsburgh 2 yard run, 2 yard run, 15 yard run, 27 yard pass from Ninowski (won 42-21)
12/5/65 vs. Redskins at Cleveland 5 yard run (won 24-16)
12/19/65 vs. Cardinals at St. Louis 3 yard run (won 27-24)

Great runners have three distinct qualities: power, speed, elusiveness. Larry Csonka had power but not a lot of speed. John Riggings had power and a sprinter’s speed but he wasn’t elusive. Barry Sanders may have been the most elusive runner of all time but he wasn’t a power runner. Big Jim had it all. 68 of his touchdowns came from within five yards, including 29 when he went over from the one. But he also had 15 runs or receptions of over 50 yards:

29 from 1 yard
10 from 2 yard
12 from 3 yards
9 from 4 yard
8 from 5 yards
1 from 6 yard
5 from 7 yard
2 from 8, 9 or 10 yards
1 from 11,12, and 13 yards
2 from 15 yards
1 from 16 yards
2 from 17 yards
2 from 20 yards
1 from 21, 23 and 25 yards
2 from 27 yards
1 from 29 yards
2 from 30 yards
1 from 32 and 34 yards
2 from 37 yards
1 from 39, 40, 41, 48, 50, 53 and 58 yards
2 from 59 and 62 yards
1 from 65, 69 and 70 yards
2 from 71 yards
1 from 77, 80 and 83 yards

(This includes his runs, receptions and his three touchdown passes to teammates.)

He produced 22 touchdowns in 18 games against the Eagles, more than any other team. The Browns were 14-3-1 vs. the Eagles in his career. Others:

Cardinals 21TDs in 18 games, (13-3-2)
Steelers 19TDs in 18 games (12-6-0)
Giants 16TDs in 19 games, including the ‘58 playoff, (9-9-1 but 6 losses in a row from 1958-1960)
Redskins 14TDs in 18 games, (15-2-1)
Cowboys 10TDs in 11 games- they played every team once in 1960 (10-1-0)
Rams 7TDs in 4 games, (3-1-0)
Colts 6TDs in 3 games (2-1-0)
49ers 4TDs in 2 games (1-1-0)
Lions 3TDs in 4 games (1-3-0)
Bears 2TDs in 2 games (1-1-0)
Vikings 1TD in 1 game (0-1-0)
Packers 1TD in 3 games (0-3-0)

Plays of over 20 yards:
11/24/57 69 yard run vs. Rams at Cleveland
12/15/57 20 yard run vs. Giants at New York
9/28/58 38 yards run vs. Rams at Los Angeles
10/5/58 23 yard run and 59 yard run vs. Steelers at Pittsburgh
10/19/58 27 yard pass and 48 yard run vs. Steelers at Cleveland
10/26/58 41 yard run and 62 yard run vs. Cardinals at Chicago
11/2/58 58 yard run vs. Giants at Cleveland
12/14/58 65 yard run vs. Giants at New York
10/25/59 30 yard run vs. Redskins at Cleveland
11/1/59 70 yard vs. Colts at Baltimore
11/8/59 20 yard run vs. Eagles at Cleveland
10/23/60 71 yard run vs. Eagles at Cleveland
10/30/60 25 yard run vs. Redskins at Washington
12/4/60 30 yard run vs. Redskins at Cleveland
12/18/60 37 yard run vs. Giants at Cleveland
11/12/61 37 yard pass to Renfro vs. Redskins at Washington
12/3/61 21 yard pass vs. Cowboys at Dallas
12/10/61 77 yard pass vs. Bears at Chicago
10/7/62 50 yard pass vs. Cowboys at Cleveland
10/14/62 53 yard pass vs. Colts at Cleveland
11/25/62 34 yard pass vs. Steelers at Cleveland
9/15/63 83 yard pass and 80 yard run vs. Redskins at Cleveland
9/22/63 71 yard run and 62 yard run vs. Cowboys at Dallas
10/13/63 32 yard run, 72 yard pass vs. Giants at New York
11/3/63 62 yard run vs. Eagles at Philadelphia
11/17/63 59 yard run vs. Cardinals at St. Louis
9/27/64 40 yard pass vs. Eagles at Philadelphia
10/24/65 39 yard pass to Collins vs. Giants at New York
11/7/65 32 yard pass vs. Eagles at Cleveland
11/28/65 27 yard pass vs. Steelers at Pittsburgh

 

[SWC75]

I decided to try to identify the long scoring plays in the various highlight films of Jim available on U-Tube. Some considerations:

- The box scores on pro-football-reference.com only list scoring plays so I won’t be able to specifically identify the non-scoring plays.
- Plays where we don’t see the end of it may or may not have been scoring plays.
- Some plays may be included in the highlight package because they were spectacular but could have been called back due to penalties, which means they won’t be in the box score.
- I doubt it but some plays could conceivably be from pre-season exhibition games, which pro-football-reference.com doesn’t have box scores for.

I checked “The Helmet Project” for notes on helmets, (info is mostly from 1960 onward), and “Football Uniforms Past and Present” and found the following:

http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

http://www.weirdwolf.net/FFP/index.htm

- The Browns had numbers on the side of their helmets until 1961, when they just went with solid orange. They got numbers on the outside shoulders in 1962. They began wearing white at home in 1964.
- The Cardinals first put the bird on the helmet when the moved to St. Louis in 1960. They got stripes on the sleeves in 1964.
- The Cowboys wore white helmets from 1960-63, then went to the silver helmets and the silver pants and eliminated the multiple stars on the shoulders in 1964.
- The Eagles first got wings on their helmets in 1958.
- The Giants put the “NY” on their helmets in 1961. They eliminated the stripes on the sleeves in 1964.
- The Redskins had the feather on the back of their helmet from 1959-1964, then went to the spear on the side in 1965, Jim’s last year. The went to yellow pants in 1961.
- The Steelers had yellow helmets through 1962. They had the numbers on the sides through 1961, then went with all yellow in 1962. The “Steel” logo first appeared o the side of the helmets on 11/18 of that year. They played at Cleveland a week later and Jim scored 3 TDs, including on a 34 yard pass. The black helmets showed up in 1963. The Steelers got yellow sleeves in 1962. They sometimes reduced the yellow area beginning in 1963.
- The Bears put the “C” on their helmets in 1962.
- The 49ers put the “SF” on their helmets in 1962. Their helmets were silver until 1964 when they went to gold. They eliminated their shoulder stripes, which they’d only worn on the road, in 1964.
- The Lions put the lion on their helmets in 1961.
- The Packers put the “G” on their helmets in 1961.
- The Rams had yellow horns on their helmets through 1963, then went to white in 1964.The used shoulder rings in 1963.
- The Vikings went to purple pants for their road uniforms in 1962. They went back to white in 1965.
- The Brown’s quarterbacks were #15 Tommy O’Connell in 1957, #16 Milt Plum from 1958-61, #15 Jim Ninowski from 1958-59 and 1962-65, #18 Len Dawson from 1960-61 and #13 Frank Ryan 1962-65
- Jim didn’t have any kick returns for touchdowns in his career.

- I can also check it against the Browns 1961 highlight film, which is on U-Tube in 5 parts:
That was the first year I followed football and I was a Browns fan from the beginning because of Big Jim, so I remember these games. I also found highlight films for 1964:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2nYDEs5IHg and 1965:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5rDWCvl6A4

Considering all that, I think I’ve ID’d the scoring plays in this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6cCXNBeVfc
(Jim Brown Highlights)

0:16 11/24/57 Jim goes 69 yards vs. the Rams at Cleveland, the first long TD run of his career. The Browns won 45-31. Jim set an NFL record of 237 yards rushing in this game.

0:30 9/22/63. Jim goes 71 vs. the Cowboys in Dallas. He also had a 62 yarder in that game. The Browns won 41-24.

1:30 (I think) 12/12/64 Jim has already caught a swing pass from Frank Ryan and scores from the 8 vs. the Giants in New York. The Browns won 52-20.

1:50 11/21/65 Jim scores from the 3 on a sweep against the Cowboys, breaking three tackles. Don Meredith was so excited he jumped up and down and cheers and his teammates had to remind him he was a Cowboy. The Browns won 24-17 to clinch the Eastern Division and a spot in the NFL title game for the second straight year.

2:00 12/14/58 Maybe my favorite play. Jim goes 65 against the Giants, bursting through the secondary so fast that a guy appeared to be swimming through the air to get to him before he falls flat on his face. Ironically, that guy is another ex-SU player, Carl Karilivacz. Unfortunately Jim couldn’t score again. The Giants had to win this game to tie the Browns and force a playoff. They did on a field goal by Pat Summerall, 10-13. They then shut the Browns out in the playoffs and lost the title game to the Colts in overtime. JB didn’t score again vs. the Giants until two years later.

2:12 10/23/60 Jim goes 71 vs. the Eagles in Cleveland but the Eagles rally from 15 down to win 29-31. That was the key game of the season for both teams as the Browns wound up 8-3-1 and the Eagles 10-2 and best the Packers for the NFL title.

2:25 10/14/62 Jim catches a short pass and goes 53 vs. the Colts in Cleveland. But it wasn’t the Browns day, 14-36, (I remember watching this game).

2:37 11/8/59 Jim goes 20 vs. Eagles at Cleveland. The Browns won 28-7.

2:45 12/19/65 Jim scores from 3 yards out vs. the Cardinals- the last touchdown he ever scored.

2:50 12/11/60 Jim scores from the four, pushing through the whole Chicago Bears team. The Browns took advantage of 8 Bear turnovers to win, 42-0.

3:10 10/13/63 Jim weaves his way through the Giants for a 32 yard score as the Browns won in New York, 35-24 as part of their 6-0 start that year. Two weeks later it wouldn’t be so easy as Jim got thrown out of the game for fighting the Giants crushed the Brown in Cleveland, 6-33, to end their undefeated streak. They were 4-4 down the stretch and wound up watching the Giants play the Bears for the title.

3:20 9/15/63 Jim plows through the Redskins for 80 yards. He’s already caught a pass for an 83 yard score. Or was this the pass play? This was the only game in which Jim scored three times against the Redskins so it has to have been the game aobut which Shirley Povich famously wrote: "Jim Brown, born ineligible to play for the Redskins, integrated their end zone three times yesterday."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4QQ9fnAgBU&feature=related
(Jim Brown, Greatest Running Back Ever.)

0:36 This is against the Cowboys at Cleveland between 1960-63, before they changed their uniforms. The only score Jim had from this distance in those games was a 50 yard pass from Jim Ninowski 10/7/62. This clip probably shows the second half of that play. The Browns needed both of JB’s TDs that day, 19-10.

0:45 Another view, from ground level, of the 65 yarder vs. the Giants in Yankee Stadium, 12/14/58. Giants 10-13.

0:56 10/26/58 Jim scores one of four TDs vs. the Cardinals at Chicago. I think this is the 41 yarder. He also had a 62 yarder. The Browns needed all of them 38-24.

1:07 9/29/63 Jim goes 17 vs. the Rams in a 20-6 win, part of the 6-0 start that year.

1:14 Another shot of the 11/25/57 69 yarder vs. the Rams, with better quality film. We see the end of it when Jim gets horse-collared, now illegal. But he scores anyway.

1:36 The 10/13/63 run vs. the Giants before the other shoe fell. Browns 35-24.

2:05 This one is a bit of a mystery. Jim has the ball at the Cowboy’s 27 in Dallas. It’s 1960-63 because they aren’t in their modern uniforms. He runs the ball in. The only scoring play close to this he had in Dallas in this period was a 21 yard pass from Milt Plum on 12/3/61. The clue is that Plum #16, comes into the picture briefly at the right. This has to be a swing pass Plum threw from the bottom, off screen to Jim and he cut back across the field to score on that play. The Browns won 38-17.

2:41 Another view of the 10/14/62 catch and run vs. the Colts.

3:14 11/28/65 Jim goes 15 against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, one four scores that day. The Browns won 42-21.

3:32 10/19/58 Jim goes 48 vs. the Steelers in Cleveland. The Browns won 27-10.

3:58 Another shot of the 71 yarder vs. the Eagles on 10/23/60. Eagles 29-31.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8YLAidfV6M&feature=related
(Jim Brown’s Ultimate Highlights Part 1)

0:21 Jim goes 65 in the 1/14/62 Pro Bowl. I remember this game: Jim was announced as the MVP in the final minute then had a rare fumble, (he lost 8 regular season fumbles in 9 years), and the West scored to win 30-31. The next year Jim came back and won the MVP again and this time the East won, 30-20.

1:55 Jim throws the first touchdown pass of his career, (37 yards) vs. the Redskins at Washington on 11/12/61. The Browns won 17-6.

3:40 Jim goes over from the 3 vs. the Eagles in Cleveland 11/19/61. (Why they show this easy score in slow motion, I don’t know.)

4:38 An 8 yard score in the same game. The Browns won 45-24.

5:38 We can now see the whole play vs. the Cowboys in Dallas on 12/3/61. They are on the Cowboy’s 21 and Milt Plum throws a backwards pass to Jim at the 27 and he cuts across the field to score. Cleveland triumphed 38-17.

5:58 One of Jim’s greatest plays, a pass from a scrambling a scrambling Plum that he takes and runs through half the Chicago team on a 77 yard jaunt. But it wasn’t enough as the Browns lost a 14-0 lead in the fourth quarter and got eliminated, 14-17 on 12/10/61. I cried myself to sleep that night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSCJxU9griw&feature=related
(Jim Brown’s Ultimate Highlights Part 2)

This one is more frenetic and harder to break down. They don’t always show the end of the end of the play and I’m assuming he scored in a couple of places.

It begins with a couple of scores in a Pro Bowl but I don’t know which one. It’s in color and is probably late in his career. Every Pro Bowl Jim played in was in the LA Coliseum.

0:45 This would be the 70 yarder in the famous battle of superstars vs. Unitas in Baltimore on 11/1/59. Jim’s 5TD runs topped Johnny’s 4 touchdown passes in a 38-31 win.

0:53 This is 10/26/58 in Chicago vs. the Cardinals. Is this the 41 yarder or the 62 yarder? Hard to tell. It could be the beginning of the play noted above. The Browns topped ‘em, 38-24

0:57 I think this is the 59 yarder vs. the Cards in Cleveland on 11/17/63. The Cards won this one 14-20.

1:18 This would be the 58 yarder vs. the Giants in Cleveland on 11/2/58. The Giants won 17-21, one of six straight wins against the Browns.

1:33 This has to a the 72 yard pass play that Jim scored on vs. the Giants 10/13/63. You don’t see the beginning of the play but it’s the only play of this distance he scored on vs. the Giants when the highlights were in color. The Browns won 35-24.

1:45 This is either the 5 or 12 yard run vs. the 49ers on 12/15/62 at San Francisco. Cleveland beat them 13-10 to close out a disappointing year.

1:55 This is vs. the Cardinals in St. Louis but I don’t believe it’s a scoring play. (See below for further discussion.)

Some short ones:

2:00 This is the 1 yarder vs. the Steelers in Pittsburgh, 10/28/62. Browns won 41-14.

2:06 and 2:13 9/13/64 Two 1 yarders vs. the Redskins in Washington. Yes, the Redskins were wearing white at home. Cleveland won 27-13.

2:33 A 1 yarder vs. the Cardinals in Cleveland on 9/20/64. The Cards were offsides but it didn’t matter. This score gave the Browns a 33-30 lead with about a minute left but Jim Bakken hit a field goal on the last play to tie it 33 all.

2:56 Frank Ryan throws a 40 yard pass to Jim for a score vs. the Eagles in Philadelphia on 9/27/64. The Browns won 28-20.

3:53 A 13 yard pass to Gary Collins vs. the Skins on 11/8/64 at Cleveland. The Browns won 34-24.

4:20 and 4:35 A 6 and 2 yard run vs. the Lions 11/15/64. After years of losing to Detroit, the Browns triumphed, 37-21 in Cleveland, an indication that this might be a “special” season.

5:38. This is not actually a scoring play as Jim doesn’t “break the plain” of the goal line in the title game vs. the Colts in Cleveland, 12/27/64. Notice how he grabs the goal post in an attempt to pull himself over the line. You could do that in those days. Jim didn’t score in that game, although he did run for 114 yards and caught passes fro 37 more. Lou Groza kicked a field goal on the next play. The Browns won 27-0 to become champions.

6:26 This is one of two 4 yard runs vs. the Eagles in Philly on 10/3/65. The Browns won 35-17.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xj4d23_MaY&feature=related
(Jim Brown’s Highlights- HQ Resnick productions)

This starts out with a series of collegiate highlights. The first ones are probably the famous Colgate game of 1956 where he scored 6 TDs and a then record 43 points. The other scores look to be against Penn State, probably the same year. The pro highlights are mostly ones we’ve seen in the other tapes but there are exceptions.

1:21 This is the 72 yard pass from Ryan vs. the Giants 10/13/63. I’ve looked at the clip from the previous highlight film and I think that’s the same play, in color, from a different angle. The only plays where Jim scores a touchdown of this length vs. the Giants were 11/2/58, 12/14/58 and this 72 yard pass play and the previous clip looks the most like this play. Browns 35 Giants 24

1:42 The 11/24/57 score against the Rams again. Browns, 45-31

2:10 10/7/62 the end of the 50 pass from Ninowski vs. the Cowboys in Cleveland. Browns 19-10

2:15 Just a flash of Jim’s 71 yarder vs. the Eagles in Cleveland 10/23/60. Browns lost 29-31.

2:20 10/5/58 Jim goes 23 vs. the Steelers at Pittsburgh. Browns 45-12.

2:25 The 65 yarder vs. the Giants 12/14/58. Giants 10-13.

2:36 The 71 yarder in Dallas 9/22/63. Browns 41-24

2:50 10/5/58 again. Jim goes 59 vs. the Steelers in the 45-12 win.

3:05 9/15/63 Either the 83 yard pass or the 80 yard run vs. the Skins. Browns 37-14

3:36 The 11/2/58 58 yarder vs. the Giants in Cleveland. Giants 17-21.

3:46 A flash of the 71 yarder in Dallas 9/22/63. (Didn’t they know it was the same play?)

3:50 Going 17 vs. the Rams in Cleveland 9/29/63. Browns 20-6.

4:08 10/24/65 Jim passes 39 yards to Gary Collins for a score vs. the Giants in New York. Browns 38-14.

4:36 11/21/65. The amazing 3 yard run against Dallas that made even Don Meredith cheer. Browns 24-17 to clinch the eastern title.

4:40 This is the earliest color highlight I’ve seen in these clips. It appears to be an 11 yard run Jim had vs. the Giants in New York 12/18/60. You will note that the Giants have no logos on their helmets. Browns 48-34 in revenge for the 7-48 thumping they took there the year before.

4:46 But this is even earlier, 12/29/57, from the official film of the 1957 Championship game. Jim, as a rookie, goes 29 against the Lions to make it 7-17. It would wind up 14-59 and it would take the Browns 7 years to get back to the game, thanks to the Giants and Eagles.

5:25 10/13/63 Jim zig-zags through the Giants from 32 yards out in the Brown’s 35-24 win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il5ohJTmk-Q
(NFL Top Players- #2 Jim Brown)

0:38 The non-scorer vs. the Cardinals. All I know is that it’s in the 60’s and likely in St. Louis, since the highlights from 1964-65, when the Browns wore white at home, tend to be in color. The Cardinals didn’t have the bird on their helmets until they moved to St. Louis in 1960 and Jim’s only long run against them in that period. was a 59 yarder in Cleveland in 1963, (see above). The Browns have numbers on the outside of their shoulders so this has to be 1962 or later. It could have been the 59 yarder if the Browns wore white at home in 1963 but, per “Football Uniforms Past and present” and my memory they didn’t start doing that until 1964.

0:48 The one yarder vs. the Steelers in Cleveland 10/28/62. Browns 41-14.

0:52 Jim goes 20 yards vs. the Eagles in Cleveland 11/8/59 That’s Burt Lancaster narrating. Browns 28-7.

1:15 The 65 yarder vs. the Giants 12/14/58 for the upteenth time. But it’s still worth it. Giants 10-13.

1:27 The 17 yarder vs. the Rams 9/29/63. Browns 20-6.

1:35 The 69 yarder vs. the Rams 11/24/57. Browns 45-31.

2:03 The full 23 yarder vs. Pitt 10/5/58. The previous clip didn’t show the beginning of the play. Browns 45-12.

2:15 The great 3 yarder vs. Dallas again 11/21/65. Browns 24-17.

2:23 The 58 yarder vs. the Giants in Cleveland 11/2/58. Giants 17-21.

2:31 The 71 yarder vs. Dallas, 9/22/63. Browns 41-24.

3:45 The 83 yard pass or 80 yard run vs. the Skins 9/15/63. I still don’t know which. Browns 37-14.


That’s 39 of Jim’s 126 touchdowns and the three touchdown passes he threw that can be found in the highlights.

 

[SWC75]

Sorry about the 1961 highlights. They've been taken down, (they have been taken down and re-posted at least twice on You-tube). But I found this little bonus form 10/26/58:

 

[orange79]

Good heavens! Thanks for that research, SWC. Pretty cool.

 

[DNABB5]

Thank you SWC.

I was involved in a "greatest running back ever" discussion at the bar during the NFL games and I was the only one who was a proponent of the original #44. All those kids need to look at these videos. Unparalleled. Barry Sanders? Pfft.

I would be interested to know how many times Jim Brown lost yards. I think that is where the discussion is won. Because it isn't many. For all the Adrian Petersen and Barry Sanders and Sweetness long runs, they were dropped in the backfield for -4 as many times.

No one took down Jim Brown on initial contact. He always fell forward.