“Jim Brown was the greatest athlete all-around athlete in the history of Syracuse University,” SU graduate author and sportswriter Scott Pitoniak said.

At one time, Black athletes were not often welcomed. Then Brown arrived on the campus of Syracuse University.

“I wanted to go inside of myself and prepare myself from an inside, outside situation, and I did not want to be disrupted in my concentration,” Brown said in 2018.

Brown died last week at the age of 87, but the legacy he's left behind will live on forever. During his freshman year at Syracuse in 1953, Brown was the only African American player on the team. Also, while at Syracuse, Jim spent for years with the ROTC. He had earned the rank of captain before being discharged.

From 1954 to 1956, Jim Brown rushed for more than 2,000 yards. He scored 24 touchdowns and playing defense, he had eight interceptions.

“He was so good, so dominating, such a big, strong guy. Built like Adonis, chiseled, 212 pounds, 6-foot-2 and change,” Pitoniak said.

We all know the story of the football great who was even better at lacrosse. However, some, including SU graduate, sportswriter and author Pitoniak said had he continued playing basketball into his senior season, those history books may look a lot different today.

“Had Jim Brown played basketball that year, Syracuse, not North Carolina, would have been the team playing against Wilt Chamberlain in Kansas and perhaps set college basketball history,” he said.

Brown would play nine seasons in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. He was a Pro Bowler all nine years, led the league in rushing eight times, and won three MVPs and an NFL championship. But in 1966, he received an offer that would change everything.

“I left at the age of 29 years old and I was MVP of the league. I wanted to have a career, have it peak and do other things,” Brown said of that offer.

Hollywood came calling, and Brown would become America's first Black action hero. He resigned from football on the set of the movie "The Dirty Dozen."

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

“His impact went well beyond his athletic prowess,” Pitoniak said.

Unfortunately, that impact was not always positive in the eyes of many, from his decision to take a meeting with and support former President Donald Trump, to his views on how Colin Kaepernick handled his own way of advocating change.

“Don't cast a shadow on the greatness of what these people are doing to make this country a country that you can have the right to speak out,” Brown said in 2018, while stressing he was happy younger athletes are showing a passion for advocating change, but is also fearful that money is too influential, playing a part in just how they go about it.

“He always had some strong feelings, and it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. But he didn't care because he was trying to do what he believed was right,” Pitoniak said.

Brown had also been arrested several times in his life and more than once for alleged assaults against women and domestic violence. He did tell Sports Illustrated in 2002 that he had long dealt with anger issues.

“And you can't just, you know, throw that under the rug or whatever. It's part of his legacy. Again, a complicated part of his legacy,” Pitoniak said.

It's a legacy that also includes a lot of good, as Brown used his platforms to become a prominent figure in the battle for civil rights and social justice from using his voice to support Muhammad Ali's decision to refuse to enter the Vietnam War draft — while also facing jail time and losing his boxing license as a result — to promoting minority-owned businesses.

Brown also founded the Amer I-Can Foundation to teach gang members life skills. Brown became a leader for social change.

“Jim was a former gang member himself growing up, and he really had an impact on the lives of many young Black men,” Pitoniak added.