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Brown's main work is running. And that is work enough. Pro football today is dominated by thread-needle quarterbacks and jitterbug ends—except on the Cleveland Browns. About half of all offensive plays in the pros are passes. But on the Browns, 60% are running plays, and Jimmy Brown carries the ball on 62% of them—an average of 20-odd plays per game, Sunday in and Sunday out. The best passer in the game can be replaced; Baltimore's Gary Cuozzo demonstrated that last week when he took over for the injured Johnny Unitas and threw five TD passes to beat the Minnesota Vikings 41-21. But there is no substitute for Jimmy Brown: he is the indispensable man—as Cleveland's own passer, Frank Ryan, is happy to concede. When Brown asks for the ball in the huddle, he gets it, no questions asked.
Last year, with Jimmy Brown rolling up 1,446 yds., the Browns edged out St. Louis for the Eastern Conference title; in the championship playoff Brown gained 114 yds., and Cleveland demolished favored (by seven points) Baltimore, 27-0. Last week the Browns took a long step toward their second straight playoff berth, as Jimmy presided over a 34-21 defeat of the third-place New York Giants. Cleveland's defense was not anything to brag about—it did not have to be. Not the way Butcher Brown was slicing up New York.
Bread & Butter. On the very first play from scrimmage, he caught a little flare pass and galloped 30 yds., leaving Giant defenders strewn in his wake. Over the next 45 minutes, Brown scored three touchdowns, and each was something to see. On the first, he started toward right end from the 3-yd. line, abruptly cut back, and while the Giants were twisted into pretzels, he literally walked across the goal. He ran 4 yds. straight through Giant Safetyman Jimmy Patton for his second TD, and his third brought satisfying animal growls from the throats of Cleveland fans. With the ball on the New York 17, Quarterback Ryan called a "Bread and Butter 19"—a slant play off tackle. Picking his way daintily through a tiny hole, Brown exploded at full speed into the Giants' secondary. Two defenders hit him—wham! wham!—at the 6-yd. line. Somehow, Jimmy kept his feet. Painfully, in a kind of slow-motion, he dragged them to the three, planted a foot, gave a mighty lunge and pitched forward, hugging the ball to his chest. His knees landed at the one; the ball landed in the end zone.
While the rest of the Browns got in their licks (Ernie Green scored one TD, and Lou Groza kicked two field goals), the game belonged to Brown. In all, he carried the ball 20 times for 156 yds. That boosted his 1965 rushing total to 1,064 yds.—almost twice as much as his closest competitor, Philadelphia's Timmy Brown (no kin), and more than eight of the 14 N.F.L. teams have gained on the ground all season. Jimmy caught three passes for an additional 36 yds., and his three TDs gave him 84 points so far this year—tops in the N.F.L.