The Old Man with the Cane

 

The swirl of media around the meeting of Kanye West and President Trump spent most of its energy on personality images of the those two men and not the real issues represented concerning minorities and their actual benefit in a growing economy operating more and more on our intended liberty and less and less on the centralized power of the state. That was to be expected from a media committed to the defense of an expanding “progressive” state.

Those issues involving all American citizens, not just those considered minorities, should be the final focus of that meeting. But it was impossible for me not to look more toward the third man in the meeting. To some, he has always been a hard one to assign to any single box. In many ways, his presence there was what added the most credibility to the meeting.

I will readily admit to being a popular culture hermit despite the efforts of a 14-year-old granddaughter. I have hardly taken notice of Mr. West (or his extended family). But that man sitting to his left with the still broad shoulders, the balding and now shaved head, the graying beard, the walking cane and the still quiet, commanding presence; I have seemingly watched my whole life.

Before I had entered what was then simply known as “junior high” and played in a football game, Dad took me to two NFL games a year to watch the newly-minted Dallas Cowboys play in the real Cotton Bowl. I was allowed to pick one of those games. The other was set in stone. We would watch the Dallas home game against the Cleveland Browns. We would watch Jim Brown run the football. Even as unperceptive as I was at that stage (and some would say still am), I could tell Dad considered it something different from the rest, special. We never missed a chance to see Toots Mansfield rope or Jim Brown run.

In those ancient times, the general admission seats were under $10 and most of the programs that I have saved in the old file cabinet were sold for $1 or less. I saw an aging Bobby Layne set what was then a new but short-lived NFL record for career pass completions. I watched John David Crow run the ball taking the handoff from a youthful Charley Johnson who threw to Sonny Randal and Bobby Joe Conrad. I saw Sonny Jurgensen not just destroy Dallas with an ultra-quick release but play around behind the bench snapping behind the back passes more accurate than most could throw regularly. I watched Y.A. Tittle during his last season, Fran Tarkington scramble and deliver, and the duo of Hornung and Taylor line up behind Starr in their last season together. And for six straight years, I saw Jim Brown run the football live.

In later years when a good deal of my so-called professional life involved both instructing and evaluating those who ran the football, my youthful impression of Jim Brown the football player became even deeper and set in stone. He was the greatest ball carrier ever, period. If one doubts that, it can be discussed another time. The raw numbers are too many and too obvious to commit the space to. And there are a few boxes of taped game film I can dust off that were used for instruction at one time which speak for themselves. To convince of his place among running backs is not the reason to bring him up. And my opinion will not change.

Brown has hardly lived a saints’ life but he has probably lived an honest one. He has certainly had a couple of legal scrapes, mostly from disputes with the women in his life. As far as I am aware of, all have resulted in either acquittal or dismissal except for an incident between him and an officer.

What I am aware of about the post-football Brown is that he has been a quiet (but not silent), strong, and consistent “activist.” I believe in many ways the face he shows the public tends to compare with his philosophy on the field. He would slowly get up after each carry and make take his own time to the huddle. Some didn’t appreciate his easy manner after each play. His reasoning was that when you carry the ball 20 times a game, there will be times you are hurt and punished. He wanted to look the same each time and never let the team know they had affected him. He treated them as if they were not a controlling factor to him. He didn’t have to show others he was hurt.

But in the same vein, he never turned down a physical challenge. He would always meet it head-on. He drew some attention in the 1970s by remarking on the running style of the Steelers’ Franco Harris. He felt Harris was “soft” when he stepped out of bounds on plays when it seemed no more yardage could be gained. Brown’s theory was always that he was the dominant player and would never concede that to the defense. He would not turn down a challenge. Of course, it helps if you are the finest athlete the country ever produced. But he recognized the quality it others when it appeared. The first time he saw Walter Peyton run, he said that he was someone worthy to break his rushing record – and he did.

Most know that Brown put together a movie career that netted him both top billing and plenty of money. But the real success for this man with the skill of Greek gods and feet of clay has been directly working with the youth of gang-infested areas of Los Angeles and Cleveland. It has been a decades-long work.

He has literally put both his time and money where his mouth is. His instructional program is called Amer-I-Can and is designed to create young men who will take charge of their own lives. It teaches fiscal skills and encourages financial independence. Its objective is independent, self-sufficient individuals who will stand up for whatever they believe but still work to be a part of the community as a whole. In other words, it strives to create worthy, responsible and productive citizens. I have reviewed it and find it very Frederick Douglass-like, which I consider a high compliment.

I hardly agree with everything Brown has ever said or stood behind. But I do see him as a strong man who speaks with a strong, direct voice without a lot of chest-beating. He just drives his point home with a smooth but powerful move much like when he scored his touchdowns and then simply dropped the ball to the ground, letting the run speak for itself.

Recently, he publicly made it clear that he would always stand for the flag and not kneel. Others could do as they wished but he considered it his flag. This was hardly playing to the moment. I can recall years ago when as he recalled the greatness and courage of Jackie Robinson in breaking baseball’s color barrier, he made a point of also saying that it would not have been possible without the greatness of Branch Rickey. In fact, he speculated that perhaps Rickey displayed the greater courage. It was up to Robinson to grasp individually the opportunities before him. I believe Brown was saying we are a human nation – but a very good one. Men will always have fights and challenges no matter their surroundings – but we are a good nation which allows those fights and challenges to be played out as they should. I don’t believe Brown fears either fights or challenges.

The visit to the White House was about a president doing what he said he would and creating real opportunities, not gifts. Such black “intellectuals” as Don Lemon and Michael Eric Dyson might refer it as a “minstrel” show but I don’t believe that the old man with the cane ever danced to anyone’s tune except his own.

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There are 11 comments.

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  1. Mountie Coolidge
    Mountie
    @Mountie

    I also come from that age when all of the men you mention were gods of a sort. My idols were Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston of The Pack. It’s been said the when asked why he played pro football Jim Brown replied “Because there is no pro Lacrosse”. If it’s possible he may have been a better collegiate Lacrosse player than football. 

     

    • #1
  2. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Helluva football player . . .

    • #2
  3. Jon1979 Inactive
    Jon1979
    @Jon1979

    Stad (View Comment):

    Helluva football player . . .

    Also an All-American lacrosse player at Syracuse. You go try and knock Jim Brown out of the slot in front of the goal….

    • #3
  4. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    I was disappointed that Jim Brown was not given an opportunity to speak his piece and share his thoughts. He has a great deal of experience and a grand willingness to give back.

    • #4
  5. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    I remember Jim at Forbes Field playing against the Steelers. The Steelers back then also had a pretty good back of the name of John Henry Johnson. Of course Bobby Lane quarterbacked for the Steelers as well. There is the legend probably true that on a Saturday night before a game he had a little to much to drink and with his big old Caddy tboned a streetcar and knocked it right off the tracks. He is said to have got out of the car and walked back to the bar he had just left. Had a hell of a good game the next day.My dad had two season tickets that he paid under $25 dollars for. He gave them up when I left for the service. There was a time when the Rooney boys sold tickets door to door. I remember Bullet Bob Hayes coming to pay the Steelers at Pitt Stadium, I think it was his first year with the Cryboys. Dropped more than he caught but boy was he fast. Funny I saw Franco the last time I was in Pittsburgh, he didn’t even limp let alone need a cane.

    • #5
  6. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Mr. Jim Brown was there at the transition, bringing Ray Lewis to meet the President Elect. 

    Not one of the social media, cultural stars, or frustrated political hacks posing as sports media, dare say a [expletive] word. No one will step up in the man’s face. 

    • #6
  7. Hustler46060 Inactive
    Hustler46060
    @Hustler46060

    A man’s man.

     

    • #7
  8. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    My family on both sides are all from Kansas City. Like you, they all grew up going to the games full of legends like Len Dawson, Otis Taylor, Buck Buchanan; and the men they played against. It amazes me.

    I grew up in the Derrick Thomas era. I’ve only been to Arrowhead once, and my kids only know football as something on the T.V. Still, we watch guys like Tom Brady and know we’re living through something historic.

    You have some special memories there. I recently found out Larry Czonka lives in the same small town as me, and I’m thinking of contacting him about a book idea. Guys like him and Brown are too rare now.

    • #8
  9. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    My family on both sides are all from Kansas City. Like you, they all grew up going to the games full of legends like Len Dawson, Otis Taylor, Buck Buchanan; and the men they played against. It amazes me.

    I grew up in the Derrick Thomas era. I’ve only been to Arrowhead once, and my kids only know football as something on the T.V. Still, we watch guys like Tom Brady and know we’re living through something historic.

    You have some special memories there. I recently found out Larry Czonka lives in the same small town as me, and I’m thinking of contacting him about a book idea. Guys like him and Brown are too rare now.

    The way Czonka played you better get there fast, he has to have a case of CTE. He went out of his way to run over people.

    • #9
  10. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    PHCheese (View Comment):
    The way Czonka played you better get there fast, he has to have a case of CTE. He went out of his way to run over people.

    I know that’s what my dad said. He’s still old man Alaska-tough apparently. He even had a reality show up here a few years back. 

    • #10
  11. Richard Finlay Inactive
    Richard Finlay
    @RichardFinlay

    Brown was certainly the most durable as well as dominating. I remember (“seared” in my memory, perhaps) when he and Gale Sayers both scored 6 touchdowns on the same day. Sayers scored some on kick returns, but Brown (I believe) had to rush for them all.

    • #11
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