Jim Brown Named Greatest College Football Player by ESPN

NEW ORLEANS – Legendary Orange running back Jim Brown is No. 1 on ESPN's list of the greatest 150 players from the first century and a half of college football.

In closing its year-long ESPN College Football 150 celebration, the network revealed its top 25 players, including Brown (No. 1) and Syracuse 1961 Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis (No. 15), at halftime of Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship Game between No. 1 LSU and No. 3 Clemson.

In addition to Brown and Davis, three-time All-American Floyd Little was No. 52 on the list. All three men wore Syracuse's fabled No. 44, which was retired in 2005, and remains the only retired jersey number in the history of the program.

A native of Manhasset, New York, Brown played three seasons (1954-56) for the Orange. He rushed for 2,091 yards and 23 touchdowns during his career and was voted the first unanimous All-American in team history as a senior in 1956.

Brown, who finished fifth in the 1956 Heisman Trophy balloting, averaged 123.3 rushing yards per game (986 in eight games) and led the nation with 13 rushing touchdowns to propel Syracuse to the Cotton Bowl. In 1955, Brown led the NCAA in kickoff return average (32.0). He also excelled on defense, logging eight career interceptions.

Brown was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

The No. 6 pick in the 1957 NFL Draft, Brown played nine years (1957-1965) for the Cleveland Browns. He led the NFL in rushing eight times and won NFL Player of the Year awards. A 1971 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Brown was named to the NFL 100 All-Time Team in December

ESPN's 150 greatest college football players were determined by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former writers, broadcasters, administrators, sports information directors and ESPN personalities. The panel included Syracuse Executive Senior Associate AD for Communications Sue Cornelius Edson.

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Jim Brown Named Greatest College Football Player by ESPN

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