To Carron J. Phillips of The New York Daily News and many African-Americans, Jim Brown had always been an icon. One of the greatest pro football players of all time, Brown, now 82, was a voice for the culture as a civil rights activism with a legacy like none other. However, now that he's supported President Trump and an opponent of national anthem protests, he's less recordable, wrote Phillips.
In 1967, Brown (photographed above) organized a meeting in Cleveland in support of Muhammad Ali, who had been stripped of his boxing title for refusing to serve in the military. Brown brought peace to countless communities of color, and there was no barrier he had not broken down for African-Americans, Phillips wrote. But Brown's support for Trump has sullied that part of his past.
Now "it’s time that we stop lying to ourselves about who and what Jim Brown was, and currently is," Phillips said. That's because some of the things he's saying "don’t line up with the image he’s portrayed for decades." For instance, Brown was on Fox Sports Radio this week and said:
"I should be criticizing Trump on every level because he does certain things that call for criticism. But when I look at television I see all these announcers become experts and they're pointing the fingers and they're not doing a doggone thing but pointing their fingers, I find myself really pulling for the president.
“Now, that would make me very unpopular in the black community, very unpopular with a lot of Americans, ... but I think that there are certain good things that are coming out of this presidency because we've never seen anything like it."
In early August, Brown proved to Phillips "that he has no idea what the peaceful protests that are taking place in the NFL are actually about, and has fallen victim to the thinking that this is about disrespecting the flag and not about bringing awareness to racism, inequalities, and police brutality.'' At that time, Brown said:
“I'll never kneel and I will always respect the flag.
“I am not going to denigrate my flag and I'm going to stand for the national anthem. I'm fighting with all of my strength to make it a better country, but I don't think that's the issue. Because what is the top side? Are you not going to stand up? This is our country, man."
These were comments of betrayal to Phillips, who launched into a character assassination of Brown — simply because the Hall of Fame former Cleveland Browns' running back supports Trump over the NFL's social justice warriors. Now he's a "always been a problematic figure." And thus less flattering of Brown's past are important again.
From 1965 to 1989, Brown was charged with and acquitted of assault and battery, assault with intent to commit murder, assault and battery charges for road rage, and rape. In 1999, he was convicted of vandalism.
Phillips compared Brown to Bill Cosby for being a "criminal in private" and concluded his attack by writing: "They say you should never meet your heroes because they're sure to disappoint you. Brown has done that without an introduction. Because all I had to do was pay attention to his actions and do some research to figure out he’s never been the man he’s fooled us all into believing he is."
