Jim Brown's jersey number should be retired, former Browns teammate John Wooten says
A former teammate is calling on the NFL to permanently retire the jersey number of Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown.
John Wooten, who played guard during his nine-year career for the Browns and Washington and was selected a team legend in 2010, said in an interview with journalist Lenny Moon that the NFL should give Brown the same respect Major League Baseball provided for Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 and the NBA for Bill Russell’s No. 6 – permanent retirement.
Although Brown has fallen out of the Top 10 of all-time leading rushers, currently ranking 11th with 12,312 career rushing yards (5.2 yards per carry), he attained that number in 118 games averaging 104.2 per game (still the best in league history).
He is still regarded by many – because of his speed and power – as the best running back to play in the NFL.
“There is no greater football player to play in this league than Jim Brown,” Wooten said, “Therefore I’m asking the NFL publicly and privately to retire his number.”
Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, but may have been known just as much for what he did and accomplished off the field as on.
His legacy is complex and includes accusations of violence against women to go with the work he did as a committed, truth-telling civil rights activist. It is the former that may give the NFL pause with respect to even considering such a request.
Brown died May 18, 2023 at age 87.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: NFL should retire Jim Brown's jersey number, John Wooten says
