Though he is one of the greatest athletes in
history, Jim Brown has always been much more than that. Even as he starred
in four sports at Syracuse – scoring 43 points in one
football game, leading the country in goals in lacrosse – and set the NFL
career rushing record in just nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns, he
tried to use his sports fame for greater purposes. Outspoken on racial
issues, he rallied other black athletes in a public show of support for
Muhammad Ali's draft resistance in 1967 and organized the Black Economic
Union, which assisted more than 400 African-American-owned businesses in the
'60s and '70s. As his football career was ending, Brown took up acting and
became the first black action star, with leading roles in The Dirty Dozen,
Ice Station Zebra and many other films. His groundbreaking interracial love
scenes with Raquel Welch in the 1969 movie 100 Rifles shocked white movie
audiences.
Despite all his laudable
work in recent years trying to reform gang members and curb inner-city
violence, Brown has always seemed threatening to some Americans. He has only
bolstered that image with recurring displays of anger, especially against
women. Brown was fined $500 and briefly jailed for beating up a male golf
partner in 1978, and he has faced assault charges against women five times
over the last four decades; in the first four cases the charges were either
dropped or he was acquitted after his female accusers decided not to
testify against him.
It was on March 12, as a
result of his latest such episode, that Brown entered the Ventura County
(Calif.) Jail to serve a 180-day sentence for misdemeanor vandalism with
domestic-violence conditions. Brown, 66, was arrested in June 1999 after his
wife, Monique, then 25, called 911 from a neighbor's house in Hollywood
Hills to report that her husband had smashed the windows of her car with a
shovel after arguing with her. Though a jury acquitted Brown on the more
serious charge of making a terrorist threat against his wife – Monique told
the 911 operator that Jim had threatened to kill her, a claim she later
retracted – it convicted him of vandalism, and Los Angeles Superior
Court judge Dale Fischer fined him $1,800 and sentenced him to three years'
probation, a year of domestic-violence counseling and his choice of 40 hours
on a work crew or 400 hours of community service. When Brown refused to
accept the counseling, Fischer imposed the jail sentence. Brown appealed
– arguing that he had not committed an act of domestic
violence and that Fischer had been biased against him – and lost.
Just days after he began serving time, a new
130-minute documentary about his life, by director Spike Lee, opened for a
brief run in New York City. The film, entitled Jim Brown: All-American, will
play in Los Angeles in mid-April and then be reedited and shortened for
airing on HBO in December. "Jim Brown is a complex and misunderstood man,
and that's the type of person I like to make films about," says Lee. For the
film, a wide-ranging examination of Brown's life, Lee chased down the
central figure in one of the more celebrated events in Brown's past, former
girlfriend Eva Bohn-Chin, a model whom Brown was long alleged to have pushed
off a second-floor balcony. In the documentary Bohn-Chin never says exactly
what did happen, but she asks, "Why would I jump?"
Brown agreed to an interview with SI's Don
Yaeger on Sunday at the Ventura jail, where the pro football Hall of Famer
spends 23 hours a day in a 6-by-10-foot cell, isolated from other inmates
because of his celebrity. When Yaeger visited him, a gaunt and weary Brown
was still in the midst of a fast that began the day he entered the jail.
During the 60-minute visit his eyes lit up only when Monique held the
couple's five-month-old son, Aris, up to the thick glass separating Brown
from his visitors.
SI: What did you think of Spike Lee's
documentary?
Brown: I thought it was interesting
because I learned some things by listening to what others had to say about
me. Spike's a great filmmaker and is great at getting people to talk, and I
learned a lot from what my kids said to him.
SI: What did you learn?
Brown: I listened to my kids talk about
me as a parent, and I learned about things they wished I'd done and said.
And I wished that I had done more of those things. They told Spike things
they've never told me.
SI: You have made a career of supporting
other black athletes when they needed it, and now a few of them are coming
out to support you at a press conference on April 17. I'm told Bill Russell,
George Foreman and others will be there. But none of the names I've heard
are of today's generation of athletes. Does this disappoint you?
Brown: Sure it does, but it doesn't
surprise me. Money has changed today's black athletes. Those who have the
ability as African men to bring a change in a community that so desperately
needs it are concentrating only on their own careers, some charities and how
much money they can make.
SI: Which athletes disappoint you the
most?
Brown: The ones that are most popular
and most powerful. Michael Jordan would be one. Charles [Barkley] is talking
about the issues, but I don't think Charles is in touch with the community.
They're all nice guys, now – don't misunderstand me.
But they have the ears of the general public, they have the money, and they
could call together 100 black athletes and solve so many problems in these
inner cities, it would be unbelievable.
SI: What's
different about today's black athlete from those you gathered in support of
Ali in '67?
Brown: They are the
beneficiaries of our struggle. But they don't recognize that because they're
inundated with agents, managers, lawyers and owners who don't want them to
do anything but play ball and hopefully keep themselves out of trouble and
just be physical freaks of nature with no [awareness] of decision-making
power.
SI: What current
athlete do you admire?
Brown: Compared
with a Bill Russell?
SI: Sure.
Brown: Nobody.
SI: Compared with a
Jim Brown.
Brown: I don't
compare myself with anyone. Let me tell you about someone I do admire. Bill
Belichick of the New England Patriots has contributed more to the work I
surround myself with than any black athlete in modern times – financially,
intellectually, every way. He's been in the prisons with me. He's met gang
members in my home; he's met gang members in Cleveland [where Belichick
coached the Browns form 1991 to '95]. He's put up money. He's opened up
areas of education for us very quietly and very strongly. Imagine what would
happen if Michael Jordan did the same thing.
Now if you're talking
about comparing someone to me on the field, you take Emmitt Smith of Dallas.
I saw him play hurt, and I saw the championship heart he had. But that was
on the field. My life has never been on the field. It has always been [about
what I've done] on multiple levels off it.
SI: What about
Tiger?
Brown: Tiger's
involved in a mission that his father set for him, and he's doing a great
job of it. As an individual, through his golf, he's demonstrating some great
things. But that's it. He's focused on golf.
SI: But he has that
foundation that brings golfing opportunities to disadvantages kids....
Brown: Can I tell
you something? Everybody does good things, but I'm talking about making
major changes in the educational system that would impact an entire race.
I'm talking about stopping these young gang members from killing one
another. I'm talking about keeping prisons from overflowing. I'm not talking
about teaching black kids to golf and get to country clubs. Come on! That's
wonderful to do, but Tiger makes enough money that he could change many more
things that are important to black kids than learning to golf.
SI: When you say
that to young black athletes, how do they react?
Brown: I don't talk
to very many of them. I give them their space because they have a right to
do what they want to do in this country. Most of them already feel they know
more than I know. They make more money, and they've got more power. They're
relevant today because they create profits for owners. That's it. Michael
Jordan brings millions of dollars when he shows up in an arena. Since money
is how we judge people, he's very valuable. But while that's happening, Rome
is burning within the black community.
In the '60s, when I called
the athletes to come and talk to Ali, they didn't bring their agents,
managers and lawyers. They came because they thought it was worthwhile. When
we started the Black Economic Union to develop black businesses, those
athletes participated. We athletes were just like normal citizens in those
days, fighting for our rights. We didn't put our sport before our manhood.
SI: Why do you talk
about black athletes, and not others, as potential leaders in the black
community?
Brown: Because in
the world's consciousness, who are the most influential black men in
America? Athletes. Look at all those polls and see whose name is at the top:
Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Tiger Woods.
SI: Who is the
greatest leader of the black community today?
Brown: C'mon.
There's no black leader anymore.
SI: There's no
Martin Luther King?
Brown: Martin
Luther King was a misguided leader. He worked to be recognized as the leader
of black America when what black America needs isn't a leader, it is
education. Giving speeches and marching, that's not the concept that brings
about real freedom, equality and justice. We need a philosophy that is
adopted in every household that raising our children to be responsible for
their own actions is a must. I don't see the [so-called] leaders of the
Jewish community; I don't see the leaders of the Korean community. Their
strength is in local leaders, household leaders.
SI: You mention the
Jewish and Korean communities in America. Neither of those groups is highly
represented in professional sports. Do you think that's connected to the
value they place on education?
Brown: Absolutely.
Black kids in this country – because of all the emphasis that is placed on
athletics in their community – believe that is their way out. It makes
education less important. There's no question athletics and the belief that
they're the only ticket [to success] has hurt black America.
SI: That is ironic
coming from you since you got your education because of athletics.
Brown: Yes, but
most kids today don't see that. They see the millions [of dollars], and they
don't understand that too great an emphasis in their community is being put
on a dream that will never develop a people. And even for those few who do
make it, they serve at the pleasure of the owners. They never have control.
SI: What's your
opinion of the high school players who are going straight to the NBA?
Brown: They should
leave if they have the ability. They should get the money and then they
should get their education along with their playing. You can do both. You
don't have to wait.
SI: You mentioned
that you'd love to see a young athlete call together 100 other young black
athletes and try to focus on improving black America. Why don't you do it?
Brown: Because I
don't have the power to do it. To do this right, it would take a modern
athlete at the height of his popularity and power to really pull people
together. When I had the power of being the Number 1 guy, I used that power
to make things happen. If I approached Michael today, he'd look at me like
I'm an old hasbeen football player. All I can be anymore is a doer of good
deeds and a builder of bridges.
SI: Given the
several charges of violence that have been leveled against you in the past,
do you have a problem with women?
Brown: I can
definitely get angry, and I have taken that anger out inappropriately in the
past. But I have done so with both men and women. So do I have a problem
with women? No. I have had anger, and I'll probably continue to have anger.
I just have to not strike out at anyone ever again. I have to be smarter
than that, smarter than I was. What I would say is that with wisdom, I will
only use my mentality or my spirit aggressively. I will never use my hands
[that way] again.
SI: Where did you
get that wisdom?
Brown: Over recent
years, as I've understood what power really is and what dedication really
is. The power is between your ears. The power is in your heart. It is up to
God to take revenge. Only God can judge. I don't have to worry about getting
even with anybody or taking out any kind of aggression on anybody. Doing
that is a weakness anyway.
SI: What is the
purpose of your fasting?
Brown: It is not a
hunger strike, as some have said. It is a spiritual fast. Just water. I've
lost 22 pounds. It is strictly a mental thing. This reminds me and the
people here that I am still in control of me.
SI: How do you feel
about the fact they've put you in administrative segregation and keep you in
your cell 23 hours a day?
Brown: It
definitely is exceptional punishment, don't you think? They don't have a
category in jail that says, "[You're a] celebrity, and we're going to
protect you." So they put you in administrative segregation, which takes
away quite a few of your rights but protects [the county] from being liable
for anything because nobody's going to be able to touch you.
SI: Spike Lee said
he thinks the jailers realize you are so popular that inmates might rise up
in support of you if you were in the general jail population.
Brown: I would
never attempt to cause an uprising. But I have the ability to communicate
with inmates and gang members. That's what my work has been. I've taught
[rudimentary life skills to] more than 18,000 inmates in California state
prisons. I've been in a room with 400 inmates, basically by myself.
SI: What do you do
during the day?
Brown: I've been
reading a lot of Scripture, a lot of history, the history of Navajos,
American history and some civil rights history.
SI: Have you ever
considered running for political office to make changes?
Brown: First, I'm
not sure I'm qualified. But the truth is that politicians are basically tied
to trying to get reelected, so they can't really make landmark changes. And
the changes we need can't be made from the top. They need to be bottom-up
changes that involve fathers and mothers, not politicians.
SI: Do you ever
want to act again?
Brown: Only when it
is a great director. An Oliver Stone, Spike Lee or [Tim Burton], the guy who
did Planet of the Apes. It is always fun when you have a good director.
SI: What do you
think of the NFL today?
Brown: It is great
entertainment, but it is entertainment, not sport anymore. The packaging of
it is fantastic. The presentation of it is sometimes greater than the
substance of the game. Their way of building stars and emphasizing outdated
records keeps people interested. But the talent is not too good, it is too
spread out, and it has been watered down.
SI: What in your
life do you most regret?
Brown: Not reaching
out to my kids more. [According to Monique, Brown has six children in
addition to Aris.] I've been getting closer to them in my latter years
because I've been economically more sound and had the time off from my work.
So I've gotten a chance to deal with them, and it is such a pleasure.
They're enjoying it and tell me they've always wanted that. So I just look
back and think how much more I should have done with them.
SI: What are you
most proud of?
Brown: I think of
my life as a journey, and I'm still on it. But under the circumstances I'm
glad I'm in jail because everyone seems to think the most important thing to
me would be to get out. I say no; I took a position against a judge who did
me wrong, who gave me a sentence that is totally out of whack. I'm here on
principle. I stood up to her and said I would fight her, and if I lose I
will go to jail. I'm serving the time as an honorable person. I do not give
them a problem. I abide by the rules. I do what I'm supposed to do. This has
given me a chance to challenge myself. Hopefully all good things will come
out of it. |
