NFL Legend, Civil Rights Icon Jim Brown Dies at 87

NFL Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, arguably the greatest player in the history of the sport, died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87. His wife, Monique, announced Brown's death in an Instagram post on Friday afternoon.

"To the world he was an activist, actor, and football star," the post read. "To our gamily he was a loving and wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. Our hearts are broken..." She did not give a cause of death.

Brown was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player four times (1957, 1958, 1963, and 1965) and shattered the league’s record books in a short career spanning 1957-65. At Syracuse University, Brown was an All-American in both football and lacrosse.

Brown led the Cleveland Browns to their last NFL title in 1964 before retiring in his prime after the 1965 season to become an actor. He appeared in more than 30 films, including “Any Given Sunday” and “The Dirty Dozen.”

He was a civil rights activist who organized the "Ali Summit" of 1967 that included Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell.

Brown's life was not without controversy. In 1975, he was convicted of misdemeanor battery for beating and choking his golfing partner. He was sentenced to one day in jail. In 1985, Brown was charged with raping a 33-year-old woman. The charges were later dismissed. He also was accused of throwing a model from a balcony in 1968, and acquitted of assaulting a man after a traffic accident in 1969.