Jim Brown's Javelin Throw Left the Crowd Speechless
In His Last Athletic Appearance at Syracuse University In The Spring Of 1957, The Future NFL Hall of Fame Member and Movie Star Enjoys a Spellbinding Day Being Jim Brown.
I arrived at Syracuse University just after Labor Day 1956, a member of the Class of 1960. My freshman residence was on the 4th floor of Watson West Men’s Dormitory on University Place, directly across the street from the impressive Neoclassical Pi Chapter House of Psi Upsilon Fraternity.
Registering for classes, fraternity rushing, bookstore purchases, ROTC uniform to be issued and M1 rifle assigned, from U.S. Army supply warehouse behind Archbold Stadium, and the anticipation of Syracuse football team’s first game against Maryland had my head spinning.
Every student on campus, whether you were an organic chemistry major or a violin virtuoso studying at Crouse College of Music, knew that the Orange 11 was led by First Team All American Running Back, Jim Brown.
Brown was just about to leave the field when a highly animated student track manager approached him and asked him if he could throw the javelin. Somehow the person who was supposed to throw this 8ft. 2 inch spear was missing
The first time I saw Brown, I was on my way to zoology class at Lyman Hall. You knew instantly that it was him. In addition to his almost engraved 6 foot 2 inch 232 pound frame, there was an aura, a definite presence of self assurance, sway and control about him, as he walked by with two companions. You saw that on the gridiron in every game he played.
The next time I saw him was on old Hendrick’s Field for manual of arms, unit marching and weapons drill. I, along with many of my classmates, had enrolled in the U. S. Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corps. A 4-year-course in military science and tactics that resulted in a commission as a 2nd Lt. upon graduation.
I was assigned to Army ROTC Company B for unit drill Tuesday and Thursday at noon with no time for lunch. I wore my uniform to English class after drill.
A Syracuse senior, cadet captain Sherman Levy, was Company B Commander and to my great surprise the Executive Officer was cadet 1st Lt., Jim Brown. He looked fully dapper in his pinks and greens.
We were responsible for maintaining and cleaning the Garand M1 rifles assigned to us. If, in formation, you were asked to present your weapon for inspection to 1st Lt. Jim Brown and the rifle’s operating chamber or barrel was found dirty, you had better run for Canada.
Jim Brown has also been called the greatest Lacrosse player of all time. He led Syracuse to a perfect 10-0 record in 1957. He said Lacrosse was the most perfect game ever conceived. He often played on the Iroquois Onondaga Indian Reservation, not far from the Syracuse campus, with the descendants of the Eastern Woodland Indians, the Iroquois People, who created the game in 1100 A.D.
My next door neighbor at Watson West 4 was a solid, compact 5’10 high school Lacrosse player from West Point, N.Y., named Ted Glowa.
He was a wonderful fellow and went to Lacrosse practice to try out for the team. He came back late. He said that he had scrimmaged against, Brown and he had the welts and bruises on his calves, buttocks and thighs to prove it. He sat down on his bed and fell asleep still wearing his sports practice clothes.
Brown earned10 varsity letters in four sports, football, basketball, lacrosse and track and field. It was his casual skillfulness in Track and Field and his utter genius in Lacrosse in the spring of 1957 that continues to stagger me.
On his last day as an athlete on the Syracuse campus, May 18, 1957, he won the discus and the shot put events at a Senior Varsity Eastern Collegiate Track and Field meet, held at Syracuse.
He was just about to leave the field when a highly animated student track manager approached him and asked him if he could throw the javelin. Somehow the person who was supposed to throw this 8ft. 2 inch spear was missing.
Brown quietly went to the predetermined javelin pitch, or runway with the javelin and stood at the rear of the 120-foot pitch to be able to gain the necessary momentum he would need running forward to throw the javelin. He launched a 169-foot throw. He won the event and Syracuse won the meet.
Later that same afternoon he scored six goals in a Lacrosse match against Army. Syracuse beat West Point 8-6.
At a screening and luncheon I hosted at Paramount Pictures in early 2013, to celebrate actor Bruce Dern’s Oscar nomination as Best Actor for his performance in the film “Nebraska” we talked about Brown. We discovered that we were both on the Syracuse campus on that very same day to witness Brown’s astonishing athletic accomplishments. He was a member of the University of Pennsylvania track and field team. I was a Syracuse freshman.
I later worked on the marketing campaign for the 1968 MGM movie, “Ice Station Zebra”, starring Rock Hudson, Patrick MacGoohan, Enest Borgnine and Brown.
Brown and I eventually met at a wrap party for some film on the Paramount lot sometime in 1978. We shook hands, and I looked at him and asked if he could still throw a javelin.
He tapped my shoulder, gave me a knowing smile, and said, “What do you think?”