On the 80th birthday of the greatest Cleveland Brown who ever lived, the Browns have announced that he’ll be immortalized.
“Everyone admires the incredible impact that Jim Brown has made for Cleveland, the Browns and the NFL throughout his lifetime, and we have had the special opportunity to know and learn from his contributions to our team on a personal level, as well,” Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam said in a statement release by the team. “It is only fitting that one of the most iconic professional football players and members of Cleveland and the Browns is commemorated with this statue as he will always be such a permanent fixture in our city.”
In a nine-year career, Brown gained 12,312 yards, an average of 5.2 per carry and more than 104 per game. He retired in 1966, at the age of 30.
Brown’s decision, ostensibly to pursue a film career, was a stunner. But plenty of players have chosen to walk away on their own terms; only in the post-CTE NFL has a player’s decision to quit voluntarily become the subject of predictions that the supply of football players eventually won’t meet the demand.
The reality is that the supply of players (with the exception of quarterbacks) far outweighs the demand, and teams will be able to continue to load up rosters and depth charts with players, the vast majority of whom will be exiting the sport involuntarily as new players constantly arrive on the scene.