Brown completes jail term VENTURA, Calif. (AP)  Former NFL star Jim Brown was released from jail Wednesday after completing a term for vandalizing his wife's car. Brown, who received a six-month sentence after he refused to undergo court-ordered counseling and community service, was released more than two months early. "I served my time  maximum. I did it as a gentleman," Brown said outside Ventura County jail. The 66-year-old former running back, who starred with the Cleveland Browns, was surrounded by friends, his wife, Monique, and their young son. "This is a blessing," Monique Brown said. "It's just the beginning of a new start. You know, we're putting everything behind us and going on with our lives." Brown was allowed to serve his time in Ventura County although the case originated in Los Angeles County. Richard Pena, a sheriff's spokesman in Los Angeles, said he was not familiar with Brown's case but that it is not unusual for inmates to be given credit for good behavior or for being productive in jail. In September 1999, a Hollywood Superior Court jury convicted Brown of misdemeanor vandalism, but acquitted him of a more serious misdemeanor charge of making a terrorist threat. The latter charge stemmed from an allegation that Brown had threatened to kill his wife during an argument at their Hollywood home. Brown was initially sentenced to a year of domestic violence counseling. He was also ordered to spend 40 days on a work crew cleaning up streets or put in 400 hours of community service, pay $1,800 in fines and serve three years' probation. When Brown refused the counseling and community service orders, the judge imposed the jail term. He began his sentence on March 13. Brown said after his release that he chose jail to prove a point. "The conditions of my sentence were ridiculous. If I had accepted those conditions I would have been condoning something that could have represented the way that the law was administered for many, many years," Brown said. One of the greatest running backs in NFL history, Brown was No. 6 on The Associated Press' list of top athletes of the 20th century. Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.