Jim Brown dead at 87

[NewYorkExpress]

https://apnews.com/article/nfl-jim-brown-03d88c7da08840a0921ae8d8dd0a6aaa

Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown, an unstoppable running back who retired at the peak of his brilliant career to become an actor as well as a prominent civil rights advocate during the 1960s, has died. He was 87.

[Horus]

He was hilarious in Mars Attacks and He Got Game. RIP.

[Fuzzy Bear]

From Wikipedia:

Assault allegations
Brown was arrested at least seven times for assault, mainly against women.[91] During the era when the incidents occured prominent males were usually not scrutinized for reported offenses against women.[40] He was never found guilty of a major crime.[40] In 1965, Brown was arrested in his hotel room for assault and battery against an 18-year-old Brenda Ayres; he was later acquitted of those charges.[92] A year later, he fought paternity allegations that he fathered her child.[93]

In 1968, Brown was charged with assault with intent to commit murder after model Eva Bohn-Chin was found beneath the balcony of Brown's second-floor apartment.[94] The charges were later dismissed after Bohn-Chin refused to cooperate with the prosecutor's office. Brown was also ordered to pay a $300 fine for striking a deputy sheriff involved in the investigation during the incident. In Brown's autobiography, he stated that Bohn-Chin was angry and jealous over an affair he had been having with Gloria Steinem, and this argument is what led to the "misunderstanding with the police".[95]


Brown in 2000
In 1970, Brown was found not guilty of assault and battery, the charges stemming from a road-rage incident that had occurred in 1969.[96]

In 1975, Brown was convicted of misdemeanor battery for beating and choking his golfing partner, Frank Snow. He was sentenced to one day in jail, two years' probation, and a fine of $500.[97][98] In 1985, Brown was charged with raping a 33-year-old woman.[99] The charges were later dismissed.[100] In 1986, he was arrested for assaulting his fiancée Debra Clark.[101] Clark refused to press charges, and he was released.[102]

In 1999, Brown was arrested and charged with making terroristic threats toward his wife Monique. According to Brown, "The only time [we] ever have an argument is during [her menstrual period]". Later that year, he was found guilty of vandalism for smashing her car with a shovel.[103] He was sentenced to three years' probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, and 400 hours of community service or 40 hours on a work crew along with a $1,800 fine.[104] Brown ignored the terms of his sentence and in 2000 was sentenced to six months in jail, which he began serving in 2002 after refusing the court-ordered counseling and community service.[105] He was released after three months.[106][107]

How this guy avoided the full wrath of the MeToo cancel culture is beyond me.  In life, Jim Brown generated DECADES of allegations of personal violence, yet the charges were often (but not always dismissed).  He was the greatest running back of his time, and he may still be the greatest running back of all time, but looking at this record of personal conduct, it's more than a little ironic that his single season rushing record was broken by O. J. Simpson, of all people.

I will say that Brown played in an era where helmet-to-helmet contact was an accepted part of the game, far more than today.  I would sincerely hope that an autopsy would be performed to examine Brown's brain to see if there is a correlation between the many, many hits to the head he took and the fact that he routinely was abusive toward women or couldn't endure being on the short end of a golf game.

[Suburbia]

RIP.

[Landslide Lyndon]

How this guy avoided the full wrath of the MeToo cancel culture is beyond me. 

As if you give a damn, like all Trump cultists.

[Middle-aged Europe]

To answer Fuzzy's question, the MeToo movement came into existence in 2017, the assault allegations against Brown were dated between 1965 and 1999 though. He did three months in prison in 2002 (following a two years' probation sentence in back in the 70s) and issued a public mea culpa in 2015, which means by the time MeToo came around it was already all said and done. Had new, possibly more severe allegations came to light after 2017 he certainly would have been screwed pretty badly, but so he benefited from a certain "that's old news" effect. That's a pretty dumb explanation, but it is what it is.

Coincidentally, Brown came out in defense of Donald Trump in 2018.

[Fuzzy Bear]

How this guy avoided the full wrath of the MeToo cancel culture is beyond me. 

As if you give a damn, like all Trump cultists.

I've reported this post.  I suppose the mods are allowing this personal attack to stand.

To answer Fuzzy's question, the MeToo movement came into existence in 2017, the assault allegations against Brown were dated between 1965 and 1999 though. He did three months in prison in 2002 (following a two years' probation sentence in back in the 70s) and issued a public mea culpa in 2015, which means by the time MeToo came around it was already all said and done. Had new, possibly more severe allegations came to light after 2017 he certainly would have been screwed pretty badly, but so he benefited from a certain "that's old news" effect. That's a pretty dumb explanation, but it is what it is.

Coincidentally, Brown came out in defense of Donald Trump in 2018.

I have previously (and for a time while I have been posting here) been a Batterer's Intervention Program Group Facilitator.  One of the features of many chronic and repeat domestic abusers is the number of DISMISSED charges abusers have.  Many are coerced to dismiss the charges.  Some are dismissed because the victims make themselves unavailable.  Brown certainly had that pattern, and he had convictions as well as mere accusations.

He was a great running back, and I'm not advocating ripping his plaque out of Canton, but this idea that he was a great guy is a bit much.  I don't wish to dump on him, but he ought not receive any more honors posthumously than the ones he's already received in life.

[DaleCooper]

How this guy avoided the full wrath of the MeToo cancel culture is beyond me. 

As if you give a damn, like all Trump cultists.

I've reported this post.  I suppose the mods are allowing this personal attack to stand.

It's not a personal attack.

[Fuzzy Bear]

How this guy avoided the full wrath of the MeToo cancel culture is beyond me. 

As if you give a damn, like all Trump cultists.

I've reported this post.  I suppose the mods are allowing this personal attack to stand.

It's not a personal attack.

Should I ask the mods if it's OK for me to ramp up my game?

[Badger]

How this guy avoided the full wrath of the MeToo cancel culture is beyond me. 

As if you give a damn, like all Trump cultists.

Good thing Brown's civil rights advocacy occurred decades ago, otherwise fuzzy and similar Trump acolytes would have torn him down as being "woke " or some such garbage.

[Fuzzy Bear]

How this guy avoided the full wrath of the MeToo cancel culture is beyond me. 

As if you give a damn, like all Trump cultists.

Good thing Brown's civil rights advocacy occurred decades ago, otherwise fuzzy and similar Trump acolytes would have torn him down as being "woke " or some such garbage.

"Civil Rights Advocacy" is fine and good.  I do, however, prefer my Civil Rights Advocates to respect the Civil Right of another person to not be beaten by their hand (especially when they are an intimate partner) or physically thrashing someone on the Golf Course.

Why is Arthur Ashe so respected nowadays?  He is respected because his inner character was congruent with his public statements and advocacies.  He was a Civil Rights Advocate who respected the Civil Rights of individuals.  He didn't beat his wife.  He didn't beat up his golf partner.  He didn't threaten harm to people, coerce them to recant valid accusations, and he didn't react to his own violent behavior unapologetically and with minimization.  Arthur Ashe deserves his monument on Monument Ave. in Richmond, VA because he really did respect the Civil Rights of others.  Jim Brown couldn't live up to that standard.  There's a place for "Do as I say, not as I do!" in society, and there is even some wisdom and correctness in that, but being that way does diminish one's legacy.  Jim Brown's legacy was diminished in that way, and I don't feel sorry for him because of that, because he brought it on himself and did little to accept responsibility for that side of his persona, let alone control it.