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USATSI

Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown died on Thursday. He was 87. While Brown is best known for his legendary NFL career, the Manhasset, New York, native ranks as the unquestioned greatest all-around athlete in Syracuse history and is featured prominently in a mural at the JMA Wireless Dome at Syracuse. 

The university released a statement shortly after news broke of Brown's passing. 

"There will be only one Jim Brown," the statement reads. "We're saddened to have lost the greatest of all time today.Our thoughts are with the Brown family, his friends and loved ones." 

Brown lettered in football, basketball, lacrosse and track during his time at Syracuse. However, he is best remembered for his work on the gridiron. Brown led the nation with 986 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns during a sensational eight-game senior season, earning unanimous All-America honors, his second selection to the All-America team.  Syracuse finished 7-2 and ranked No. 8 nationally in the final AP Top 25. Brown finished just fifth in Heisman Trophy voting, behind eventual winner Paul Hornung of Notre Dame.

In 2020, a committee of 150 voters that included coaches, players and writers named Brown the greatest college football player in history.  In three years, Brown rushed for 2,091 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns.

"That the best player in the history of college football didn't win the Heisman Trophy says less about the player than it does about college football," ESPN's Ivan Maisel wrote at the time. "Jim Brown of Syracuse finished fifth in the vote to select the most outstanding player of 1956. A significant portion of the electorate balked at voting for a black man. Coaches always maintain that the longer a game goes, the more that talent will reveal itself."

Brown's legend does not stop on the football field. He is considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time. Brown earned two All-American nods on the lacrosse field, including a first-team selection as a senior after scoring 43 goals in 10 games. The NCAA changed rules at the time to require players to keep their sticks in constant motion when carrying the ball after Brown's dominant success. Brown is a Lacrosse Hall of Fame member, and the Premier Lacrosse League MVP award carries his name. 

Orange football coach Dino Babers praised Brown's accomplishments. 

"Jim Brown was the greatest player to ever play the game," he said on Twitter. "I remember my dad making me watch his highlights as a kid so I could appreciate his greatness. He was the best of the best and will be forever remembered as a Syracuse legend and the best of all time."

In two years with the basketball program, Brown averaged 13.1 points per game and finished second on the team in scoring as a sophomore. Syracuse had an unofficial rule that kept the team from starting three black players at the time, which kept him from playing a third season on the hardwood. Brown also finished in the top five nationally in the decathlon. 

Brown went on to rewrite the record books at the NFL level, earning eight first-team All-Pro nods in nine seasons and rushing for more than 12,300 yards. He was named to the NFL's 50th, 75th and 100th-anniversary teams. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971 and College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.