The gesture would symbolize just how remarkable JB was
The passing of Jim Brown in May of last year was indeed a sad day for every diehard NFL fan. It also provided an opportunity.
The National Football League (NFL) can now memorialize arguably one of the greatest players ever to set foot on any NFL football field.
The NFL should retire Brown’s #32 jersey – leaguewide. Yes, every team.
This was the suggestion of former Cleveland Browns offensive guard John Wooten back in February of 2024. Wooten was not only a teammate of Jim Brown who blocked for the talented runner, the two were best friends.
Wooten made the suggestion in a podcast interview with journalist Lenny Moon on LennyMoonSports.com.
On the podcast, Wooten stated:
“There is no greater football player that has ever played in this league than Jim Brown. And therefore, I am asking publicly and privately to the NFL, to retire his number similar to what Major League Baseball did for one of my greatest heroes Jackie Robinson.”
Yahoo! Sports, cleveland.com, and the Akron Beacon-Journal picked up the story. In mid-September former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made the same suggestion on the SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” speaking to Charles Barkley.
The idea is an exceptional one. MLB has retired the #42 jersey for Robinson with every club. The NBA retired Bill Russell’s #6 leaguewide while the NHL retired Wayne Gretzky’s #99.
Photo by: Diamond Images/Getty Images
Currently, only three NFL teams have the number 32 retired: Browns (Jim Brown), New York Football Giants (Al Blozis), and the Pittsburgh Steelers (Franco Harris).
Wooten and Brown would formulate a lifelong bond and became roommates on road games and at the hotel in Cleveland the night before home games. Brown died May 18, 2023, at age 87.
Jim Brown was taken by Cleveland head coach Paul Brown in the 1957 NFL draft with the sixth overall pick. Coach Brown was looking for the replacement of his long-standing quarterback Otto Graham and coveted signal-callers Len Dawson of Purdue and Stanford’s John Brodie. But each was taken before the Browns picked, so Coach Brown “settled” on Jim Brown out of Syracuse.
Jim Brown would win the league MVP as a rookie – an event that had never occurred and hasn’t happened since. Let that one sink in for a second.
He played just nine seasons but led the league in rushing yards in eight of his nine years in the NFL, won three league MVP awards, named 8-Time First Team All-Pro along with a long list of other accolades throughout his career. He was voted to the 50th, 75th, and 100th NFL Anniversary All-Time Teams and went to the Pro Bowl all nine seasons.
As Jim Brown was set to attend Browns’ training camp in the summer of 1966 after being voted as the league MVP once again, he was on location shooting the major film “The Dirty Dozen” in England which had run over two weeks because of inclement weather. Jim Brown and Cleveland owner Art Modell talked about the overrun to which Modell threatened to fine Jim Brown $100 a day that he wasn’t present. The next day, Jim Brown retired from the NFL – and the Browns.
Wooten was selected by the Browns with the 53rd pick in the fifth round of the 1959 NFL Draft. Back then, the draft was 30 rounds with the process taking two days six weeks apart. To be taken in Round 5 was a huge plus for any player and was considered a high-round pick.
Dawgs By Nature’s Barry Shuck reached out to Wooten at his home in Arlington, Texas to find out more information about the possibility of the league taking Jim Brown’s #32 off the list of available numbers with every NFL club.
Wooten mentioned that the NFL has the opportunity to give Jim Brown the respect that other major sports leagues have given to their most gifted athletes by permanently retiring the jersey number of the legend:
“I had a conversation with Commissioner Roger Goodell. To honor him this coming year, I want you to announce that the league has retired Number 32. That number is not to be worn by any player hereafter.”
There may be several roadblocks.
Several teams have already retired quite a few numbers as it is and may not be receptive to dumping another digit off their available jersey numbers. With a 53-man roster and up to 17 practice squad members, the players on various lists such as IR, plus retired numbers, that can bring into the fold some complications. College football teams often duplicate a jersey number with a player on offense and one on defense, but the NFL doesn’t wish to go down that road.
The Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions have six jerseys retired, the Chicago Bears have retired 14, the Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, and Los Angeles Rams have eight each, 10 for the Kansas City Chiefs, nine for the Philadelphia Eagles, and the San Francisco 49ers have 12 retired numbers.
And what about the active players that are wearing that number now?
Almost every club has a player that is wearing that number including New Orleans Saints S Tyrann Mathieu. Some are rookies like Miami Dolphins S Patrick McMorris whereas Buffalo Bills LB Nicholas Morrow now has seven years vested in the league. How would the NFL deal with these guys, some of which have owned the 3-2 for their entire career?
Then there are some that have the opinion that a league is never about one man. Well, what about the Dallas Cowboys claiming they are “America’s Team” despite there being 31 other clubs in the league?
It is a fact that Jim Brown remains highly regarded by many as the best running back to play in the NFL because of his rare blend of speed and power.
Wooten added:
“All of the other major sports leagues in this country have done this. The NFL needs to do this for Jim Brown. I didn’t know the procedure of how to get this going, so I told the commissioner my idea to find out how to get something like this started. I was counting on him to do this honor for Jim.”
That is all fine and good, but what about Belichick’s suggestion with the same idea?
Wooten explained:
“Bill got it from me. He came out and supported the idea. I sent out an email to the commissioner of all the people who supported the idea, and Bill was on that list. Then later he said it on the podcast.”
After MLB retired Robinson’s number, they went a step further and have the number “42” displayed somewhere in each stadium. This includes every minor league ballpark. Should the NFL not only retire Jim Brown’s number but hang a “32” banner in each venue as well?
Wooten gave his opinion:
“I would be against it. We have to look at it that baseball is a little different than football.”
Most of the records set by Jim Brown have been eclipsed since he retired from the league. He left the game in the prime of his athletic career and could have destroyed every number achieved. But understand, Jim Brown played in a 12-game schedule whereas players today have the advantage of 17-games per season to work under and pad their stats.
Although Jim Brown has fallen out of the Top-10 of All-Time leading rushers now ranked #11 with 12,312 career rushing yards, his final stats were played in 118 games in which he averaged 104.2 yards per game which remains the best.
And how would a player like Jim Brown perform in today’s NFL?
Photo by: 2014 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images
Wooten surmised:
“He looked like a weight lifter even though he didn’t work out much. Point blank: There is no greater football player that has played in this league than Jim Brown. He was such a deep thinker on how to do things. He was known just as much for what he did and accomplished off the field as on. He would dominate the modern-day game just like he did in the era that he played.”
Jim Brown was listed as 6’-2” and weighing 232 pounds but it was all muscle and very little fat. Although he was a powerful runner who seemed unstoppable from a physical standpoint, he was sharp and alert and knew exactly what he wanted to do and accomplish from the mental aspect of the ballgame.
It has been said repeatedly that Jim Brown played as if he were a man among boys.
Belichick attempted to introduce Jim Brown to his players when he was the head coach of the Browns from 1991-1995. As he stated on the podcast:
“I try to teach our players that all the time, every chance I get, the history of the game, the history of your position, the history of the players that came before you and that paved the way. You know, the game just didn’t get great when you walked on the field, and sometimes they need to be reminded of that. When I brought Jim Brown back to Cleveland the first time in ‘92, well ‘91 then he came back in ‘92. And, honestly, the rookies that he talked to didn’t really know who Jim was. I never made that mistake again. I made sure that, before I introduced him, they got a good look at him on the field and off the field and the things that he did not only for the game. So, when I have an opportunity to talk to a team, people are gonna learn the history of the game whether they want to or not.”
Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images
Next, Belichick blurted out about the jersey retirement:
“I was having a conversation the other day talking about Jim Brown and I think it’d be a great move for the NFL to retire his number like baseball did with Jackie [Robinson].”
Wooten knows this has to be a leaguewide commitment that the NFL owners must talk about, review, and have the matter nominated and supported, then voted on and approved. It is not easy to get 32 ownership groups to agree on anything much less something that will affect every owner, every team, and every fan of the game.
Yes, this is a huge deal. And it should become a reality.