Adversity is often an obstacle on the path to greatness.
Before Jim Brown could become great on the field, he had to fight through adversity off the field.
Lots of it.
In modern times, it would not be difficult for Brown to be courted by major Power Five schools. He already stood at 6-foot-2 and weighed 230 pounds at Manhasset High School in Long Island. Brown played football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball and ran track in high school, setting records while doing so. However, he had trouble finding a college to enroll in the first place.
That’s because Brown’s college years came in the mid-1950’s, when America was still the better part of a decade from the height of the Civil Rights movement.