Jim Brown

Jim Brown is widely considered the greatest football player who ever lived. In nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns, he led the league in rushing eight times, never missed a game, and retired at 29 as the NFL's all-time leading rusher — a record that stood for decades.

But Brown walked away from football at his peak to pursue acting and activism. He became a prominent figure in the civil rights movement, organizing the Cleveland Summit in 1967 where top Black athletes supported Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted.

Brown founded the Amer-I-Can program in 1988, working in gang intervention and economic development in underserved communities. He was equal parts athlete, activist, and institution builder — and he was unapologetic about all three.