Though he is one of the greatest athletes in history, Jim Brown

has always been much more than that. Even as he starred in four

sports at Syracuse--scoring 43 points in one football game,

leading the country in goals in lacrosse--and set the NFL career

rushing record in just nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns, he

tried to use his sports fame for greater purposes. Outspoken on

racial issues, he rallied other black athletes in a public show

of support for Muhammad Ali's draft resistance in 1967 and

organized the Black Economic Union, which assisted more than 400

African-American-owned businesses in the '60s and '70s. As his

football career was ending, Brown took up acting and became the

first black action star, with leading roles in The Dirty Dozen,

Ice Station Zebra and many other films. His groundbreaking

interracial love scenes with Raquel Welch in the 1969 movie 100

Rifles shocked white movie audiences.

Despite all his laudable work in recent years trying to reform

gang members and curb inner-city violence, Brown has always

seemed threatening to some Americans. He has only bolstered that

image with recurring displays of anger, especially against women.

Brown was fined $500 and briefly jailed for beating up a male

golf partner in 1978, and he has faced assault charges against

women five times over the last four decades; in the first four

cases the charges were either dropped or he was acquitted after

his female accusers decided not to testify against him.

It was on March 12, as a result of his latest such episode, that

Brown entered the Ventura County (Calif.) Jail to serve a 180-day

sentence for misdemeanor vandalism with domestic-violence

conditions. Brown, 66, was arrested in June 1999 after his wife,

Monique, then 25, called 911 from a neighbor's house in Hollywood

Hills to report that her husband had smashed the windows of her

car with a shovel after arguing with her. Though a jury acquitted

Brown on the more serious charge of making a terrorist threat

against his wife--Monique told the 911 operator that Jim had

threatened to kill her, a claim she later retracted--it convicted

him of vandalism, and Los Angeles Superior Court judge Dale

Fischer fined him $1,800 and sentenced him to three years'

probation, a year of domestic-violence counseling and his choice

of 40 hours on a work crew or 400 hours of community service.

When Brown refused to accept the counseling, Fischer imposed the

jail sentence. Brown appealed--arguing that he had not committed

an act of domestic violence and that Fischer had been biased

against him--and lost.

Just days after he began serving time, a new 130-minute

documentary about his life, by director Spike Lee, opened for a

brief run in New York City. The film, entitled Jim Brown:

All-American, will play in Los Angeles in mid-April and then be

reedited and shortened for airing on HBO in December. "Jim Brown

is a complex and misunderstood man, and that's the type of person

I like to make films about," says Lee. For the film, a

wide-ranging examination of Brown's life, Lee chased down the

central figure in one of the more celebrated events in Brown's

past, former girlfriend Eva Bohn-Chin, a model whom Brown was

long alleged to have pushed off a second-floor balcony during an

argument in 1968. Brown claims the story is untrue and has said

Bohn-Chin jumped from the balcony. In the documentary Bohn-Chin

never says exactly what did happen, but she asks, "Why would I

jump?"

Brown agreed to an interview with SI's Don Yaeger on Sunday at

the Ventura jail, where the pro football Hall of Famer spends 23

hours a day in a 6-by-10-foot cell, isolated from other inmates

because of his celebrity. When Yaeger visited him, a gaunt and

weary Brown was still in the midst of a fast that began the day

he entered the jail. During the 60-minute visit his eyes lit up

only when Monique held the couple's five-month-old son, Aris, up

to the thick glass separating Brown from his visitors.

SI: What did you think of Spike Lee's documentary?

Brown: I thought it was interesting because I learned some things

by listening to what others had to say about me. Spike's a great

filmmaker and is great at getting people to talk, and I learned a

lot from what my kids said to him.

SI: What did you learn?

Brown: I listened to my kids talk about me as a parent, and I

learned about things they wished I'd done and said. And I wished

that I had done more of those things. They told Spike things

they've never told me.

SI: You have made a career of supporting other black athletes

when they needed it, and now a few of them are coming out to

support you at a press conference on April 17. I'm told Bill

Russell, George Foreman and others will be there. But none of the

names I've heard are of today's generation of athletes. Does this

disappoint you?

Brown: Sure it does, but it doesn't surprise me. Money has

changed today's black athletes. Those who have the ability as

African men to bring a change in a community that so desperately

needs it are concentrating only on their own careers, some

charities and how much money they can make.

SI: Which athletes disappoint you the most?

Brown: The ones that are most popular and most powerful. Michael

Jordan would be one. Charles [Barkley] is talking about issues,

but I don't think Charles is in touch with the community. They're

all nice guys, now--don't misunderstand me. But they have the ears

of the general public, they have the money, and they could call

together 100 black athletes and solve so many problems in these

inner cities, it would be unbelievable.

SI: What's different about today's black athlete from those you

gathered in support of Ali in '67?

Brown: They are the beneficiaries of our struggle. But they don't

recognize that because they're inundated with agents, managers,

lawyers and owners who don't want them to do anything but play

ball and hopefully keep themselves out of trouble and just be

physical freaks of nature with no [awareness] of decision-making

power.

SI: What current athlete do you admire?

Brown: Compared with a Bill Russell?

SI: Sure.

Brown: Nobody.

SI: Compared with a Jim Brown.

Brown: I don't compare myself with anyone. Let me tell you about

someone I do admire. Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots

has contributed more to the work I surround myself with than any

black athlete in modern times--financially, intellectually, every

way. He's been in the prisons with me. He's met gang members in

my home; he's met gang members in Cleveland [where Belichick

coached the Browns from 1991 to '95]. He's put up money. He's

opened up areas of education for us very quietly and very

strongly. Imagine what would happen if Michael Jordan did the

same thing.

Now if you're talking about comparing someone to me on the field,

you take Emmitt Smith of Dallas. I saw him play hurt, and I saw

the championship heart he had. But that was on the field. My life

has never been on the field. It has always been [about what I've

done] on multiple levels off it.

SI: What about Tiger?

Brown: Tiger's involved in a mission that his father set for him,

and he's doing a great job of it. As an individual, through his

golf, he's demonstrating some great things. But that's it. He's

focused on golf.

SI: But he has that foundation that brings golfing opportunities

to disadvantaged kids....

Brown: Can I tell you something? Everybody does good things, but

I'm talking about making major changes in the educational system

that would impact an entire race. I'm talking about stopping

these young gang members from killing one another. I'm talking

about keeping prisons from overflowing. I'm not talking about

teaching black kids to golf and get to country clubs. Come on!

That's wonderful to do, but Tiger makes enough money that he

could change many more things that are important to black kids

than learning to golf.

SI: When you say that to young black athletes, how do they react?

Brown: I don't talk to very many of them. I give them their space

because they have a right to do what they want to do in this

country. Most of them already feel they know more than I know.

They make more money, and they've got more power. They're

relevant today because they create profits for owners. That's it.

Michael Jordan brings millions of dollars when he shows up in an

arena. Since money is how we judge people, he's very valuable.

But while that's happening, Rome is burning within the black

community.

In the '60s, when I called the athletes to come and talk to Ali,

they didn't bring their agents, managers and lawyers. They came

because they thought it was worthwhile. When we started the Black

Economic Union to develop black businesses, those athletes

participated. We athletes were just like normal citizens in those

days, fighting for our rights. We didn't put our sport before our

manhood.

SI: Why do you talk about black athletes, and not others, as

potential leaders in the black community?

Brown: Because in the world's consciousness, who are the most

influential black men in America? Athletes. Look at all those

polls and see whose name is at the top: Michael Jordan, Shaquille

O'Neal, Tiger Woods.

SI: Who is the greatest leader of the black community today?

Brown: C'mon. There's no black leader anymore.

SI: There's no Martin Luther King?

Brown: Martin Luther King was a misguided leader. He worked to be

recognized as the leader of black America when what black America

needs isn't a leader, it is education. Giving speeches and

marching, that's not the concept that brings about real freedom,

equality and justice. We need a philosophy that is adopted in

every household that raising our children to be responsible for

their own actions is a must. I don't see the [so-called] leaders

of the Jewish community; I don't see the leaders of the Korean

community. Their strength is in local leaders, household leaders.

SI: You mention the Jewish and Korean communities in America.

Neither of those groups is highly represented in professional

sports. Do you think that's connected to the value they place on

education?

Brown: Absolutely. Black kids in this country--because of all the

emphasis that is placed on athletics in their community--believe

that is their way out. It makes education less important. There's

no question athletics and the belief that they're the only ticket

[to success] has hurt black America.

SI: That is ironic coming from you since you got your education

because of athletics.

Brown: Yes, but most kids today don't see that. They see the

millions [of dollars], and they don't understand that too great

an emphasis in their community is being put on a dream that will

never develop a people. And even for those few who do make it,

they serve at the pleasure of the owners. They never have

control.

SI: What's your opinion of the high school players who are going

straight to the NBA?

Brown: They should leave if they have the ability. They should

get the money and then they should get their education along with

their playing. You can do both. You don't have to wait.

SI: You mentioned that you'd love to see a young athlete call

together 100 other young black athletes and try to focus on

improving black America. Why don't you do it?

Brown: Because I don't have the power to do it. To do this right,

it would take a modern athlete at the height of his popularity

and power to really pull people together. When I had the power of

being the Number 1 guy, I used that power to make things happen.

If I approached Michael today, he'd look at me like I'm an old

has-been football player. All I can be anymore is a doer of good

deeds and a builder of bridges.

SI: Given the several charges of violence that have been leveled

against you in the past, do you have a problem with women?

Brown: I can definitely get angry, and I have taken that anger

out inappropriately in the past. But I have done so with both men

and women. So do I have a problem with women? No. I have had

anger, and I'll probably continue to have anger. I just have to

not strike out at anyone ever again. I have to be smarter than

that, smarter than I was. What I would say is that with wisdom, I

will only use my mentality or my spirit aggressively. I will

never use my hands [that way] again.

SI: Where did you get that wisdom?

Brown: Over recent years, as I've understood what power really is

and what dedication really is. The power is between your ears.

The power is in your heart. It is up to God to take revenge. Only

God can judge. I don't have to worry about getting even with

anybody or taking out any kind of aggression on anybody. Doing

that is a weakness anyway.

SI: What is the purpose of your fasting?

Brown: It is not a hunger strike, as some have said. It is a

spiritual fast. Just water. I've lost 22 pounds. It is strictly

a mental thing. This reminds me and the people here that I am

still in control of me.

SI: How do you feel about the fact they've put you in

administrative segregation and keep you in your cell 23 hours a

day?

Brown: It definitely is exceptional punishment, don't you think?

They don't have a category in jail that says, "[You're a]

celebrity, and we're going to protect you." So they put you in

administrative segregation, which takes away quite a few of your

rights but protects [the county] from being liable for anything

because nobody's going to be able to touch you.

SI: Spike Lee said he thinks the jailers realize you are so

popular that inmates might rise up in support of you if you were

in the general jail population.

Brown: I would never attempt to cause an uprising. But I have the

ability to communicate with inmates and gang members. That's what

my work has been. I've taught [rudimentary life skills to] more

than 18,000 inmates in California state prisons. I've been in a

room with 400 inmates, basically by myself.

SI: What do you do during the day?

Brown: I've been reading a lot of Scripture, a lot of history,

the history of Navajos, American history and some civil rights

history.

SI: Have you ever considered running for political office to make

changes?

Brown: First, I'm not sure I'm qualified. But the truth is that

politicians are basically tied to trying to get reelected, so

they can't really make landmark changes. And the changes we need

can't be made from the top. They need to be bottom-up changes

that involve fathers and mothers, not politicians.

SI: Do you ever want to act again?

Brown: Only when it is a great director. An Oliver Stone, Spike

Lee or [Tim Burton], the guy who did Planet of the Apes. It is

always fun when you have a good director.

SI: What do you think of the NFL today?

Brown: It is great entertainment, but it is entertainment, not

sport anymore. The packaging of it is fantastic. The presentation

of it is sometimes greater than the substance of the game. Their

way of building stars and emphasizing outdated records keeps

people interested. But the talent is not too good, it is too

spread out, and it has been watered down.

SI: What in your life do you most regret?

Brown: Not reaching out to my kids more. [According to Monique,

Brown has six children in addition to Aris.] I've been getting

closer to them in my latter years because I've been economically

more sound and had the time off from my work. So I've gotten a

chance to deal with them, and it is such a pleasure. They're

enjoying it and tell me they've always wanted that. So I just

look back and think how much more I should have done with them.

SI: What are you most proud of?

Brown: I think of my life as a journey, and I'm still on it. But

under the circumstances I'm glad I'm in jail because everyone

seems to think the most important thing to me would be to get

out. I say no; I took a position against a judge who did me

wrong, who gave me a sentence that is totally out of whack. I'm

here on principle. I stood up to her and said I would fight her,

and if I lose I will go to jail. I'm serving the time as an

honorable person. I do not give them a problem. I abide by the

rules. I do what I'm supposed to do. This has given me a chance

to challenge myself. Hopefully all good things will come out of

it.

COLOR PHOTO: JOEY TERRILL Gaunt giant After 27 days of fasting in jail, a drawn Jim Brown criticized today's top black athletes. [T of C]

COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEY TERRILL Locked up Brown (in a visiting room) accepted 180 days in jail rather than submit to a year of domestic-violence counseling.

COLOR PHOTO: NEIL LEIFER

COLOR PHOTO: MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS

"Tiger makes enough money that he could change many more things

that are important to black kids than learning to golf."

"Martin Luther King was a misguided leader. Giving speeches and

marching doesn't bring about real freedom and justice."