Saturday, December 22, 2012

Jim Brown Speaks

Cleveland Browns running back legend Jim Brown was making the radio and podcast rounds in Minnesota this past week. His opinion has been on the minds of those associated with the Vikings as they feel that they have a running back that's on a legendary path. Everyone wants to talk about Adrian Peterson. To talk about the best Minnesota people looked to the best. Brown is particular about the backs that he'll discuss. Fortunately, Peterson is one of the few that the will. The two have grown close over the years due to a mutual respect. Many people think that Jim Brown can be an ass with his views on football these days. His opinions are certainly strong but I enjoy hearing them. He speaks about football pretty much the same way that he played. He holds nothing back. It helps when he has nothing but great things to say about Adrian Peterson. He loves Peterson's brutal running. More importantly he loves how Peterson carries himself off the field. His priorities.

I enjoy hearing Jim Brown react to the mention of former running back greats. When Gale Sayers' name was mentioned there was a clear admiration. During one of Brown's interviews this week he mentioned being at a Super Bowl with seven of the best running backs of all time. Having a passion for football history and a great respect for Brown's opinions on this, I tried to guess who the seven might have been. It would have helped to know which Super Bowl. He mentioned Ollie Matson later in the interview so I started there. It also made me think that the seven backs played around the time of Brown's Cleveland Browns days. Here's my guess as to the running back greats in that group with Brown. Ollie Matson, Bobby Mitchell, Lenny Moore, Joe Perry, Gale Sayers and Jim Taylor. I'd sure love to hear the discussion that took place with that group. Tough, physical running was the only way to run with the football in those days. A style of running that perfectly describes that of Adrian Peterson.

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