Three Halls of Fame, Two Different Sports!!!

Newk's Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

It is hard to fathom that a multi-sport college athlete would be forced to go professional in his second best sport, yet still become the greatest of all time at his position. It is hard to fathom of an athlete who was elected to three Halls of Fame, two of them in different sports! 

This athlete is considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, revolutionizing the sport and even causing rules to be changed based on his dominance. He excelled in track, averaged over 13 points per game for his college basketball team, and was offered a big money contract to play baseball for the New York Yankees.

But it seemed best that after finishing a stellar career at Syracuse University that Jim Brown join the NFL.

Jim Brown was the greatest athlete in Syracuse University’s history. By earning ten varsity letters in four sports during his college career, he may even be considered the greatest American athlete of all time. 

Brown played basketball his sophomore and junior years for Syracuse (freshmen were in eligible for varsity in those days) and was second on the team in scoring his sophomore year with 15 PPG. He was a tremendous rebounder as well, using his athletic ability to overcome taller opponents. He did not return for his senior season as he could not be a starter because of racism. The unwritten rule back then only allowed two African-American starters and Syracuse had two others who were starting as well. Several experts believe Syracuse could have won the national title in 1957 if Brown had continued to play and been allowed to start.

Brown also competed for the Syracuse track team. Before Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders, Brown once competed in two different sports in the same day. In 1957, donning his track suit, he won the high jump and the javelin throw, came in second in the discus event which allowed Syracuse to defeat Colgate in a dual meet. Later, he changed into his lacrosse uniform and led the way to an 8-6 win over Army. 

Syracuse achieved an undefeated (10-0) season in lacrosse during Brown’s senior season. He had been named second team All American in his junior season and followed that in his senior year by finishing second nationally in scoring (43 goals in 10 games) and being named first team All American. The rule requiring a lacrosse player to keep his stick in constant motion while carrying the ball was implemented because of Jim Brown’s dominance. 

Jim received many awards while at Syracuse including Athlete of the Year 1956-57, Team All American in 1956 and First Team Honors in 1957. He also scored five goals in one half during the Collegiate North/South All-Star Game of 1957.

Even the boxing coach at Syracuse wanted Jim Brown to compete in the ring. He stated that he felt Brown could have been heavyweight champion if he had dedicated himself to the sport.

Of course, Brown also became a legend at Syracuse in football. He played running back and was also the kicker on the team. In a game against Colgate in 1956, Brown dominated by running for 196 yards, scoring 6 touchdowns and kicking 7 extra points, totaling 43 points. Imagine the SportsCenter coverage that feat would garnish today! It would even push Tebow off the main highlight! He was a unanimous choice as All American his senior year and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. 

All these achievements and a lack of professional opportunity beyond college in lacrosse took Brown to the NFL, where he dominated again, became the greatest of all time at his position and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1971.

He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and based on his dominance and ability in the game of lacrosse, was elected to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and considered one of the greatest players of all time. 

It is hard to fathom we may ever see this type of athletic skill again.

All this because I know more about nothing…