V 13 N. 52 Decathlete, Lacrosse, Football Player Jim Brown R.I.P.

                                                                        Jim Brown

                                                                         1936-2023

A friend mentioned  yesterday that the late Jim Brown NFL great,  All American at Syracuse, and lesser known lacrosse player had also been 5th at the national  AAU decathlon meet in 1955.  I'd never heard about his decathlon history but found the stats below in Track and Field News archives.  My only question is how did Crawfordsville, Indiana end up hosting that meet?  Also what was his motivation and who coached him in that decathlon event?   I haven't yet found any photographic evidence. 

Syracuse University briefly mentioned his high school  track career:  "Born on February 17, 1936, in St. Simons, Ga., Brown attended Manhasset High School on Long Island before joining the Orange in 1953. While at Manhasset, Brown was a five-sport star – letting in football, basketball, track & field, lacrosse and baseball.  In 1952, Brown earned the Thorp Award, presented to the most outstanding football player in Nassau County. In the same year, he earned Newsday All-Scholastic honors in basketball, after averaging a then-Long Island record 38 points per game. Brown also placed first in the high jump at the Nassau County Track & Field Championship and was tabbed an All-Metropolitan Lacrosse League midfielder."

I think a lot of NFL defensive players were overjoyed to see Jim Brown retire before the peak of his career.  It was said that the only way to bring him down was at the ankles.  Anywhere above the ankles, he would overpower the tacklers.  The battles between Jim Brown and Sam Huff of the New York Giants were the stories that became legends.  Cleveland was the only Ohio team in the NFL then and every kid in the state was home on Sunday afternoon to watch the Browns if his family had a TV.      George Brose

Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN hosted the Wabash Relays for many years, which I ran in two years, and eventually had Coach Rob Johnson who was also an Olympic sprint coach in 1984.  His Olympic teams actually got the baton around the track, unlike so many which followed.  I suspect very few places volunteered for a marathon (Boston & Yonkers) or a decathlon in those days so Wabash got the meet and only 6 showed up.   Bill Schnier

Bill, Didn't Stan Huntsman's father coach at Wabash in the 1950's?   George

You are so right.  I forgot that.  He was a legendary coach and Stan simply expanded on what he had done, just had more advantageous schools.  Even in the 1970s there were very few decathlons around.  Steve Price hosted one at Wayne HS  (Dayton) and Phil Scott participated in that one..  Recently Fairmont HS (Kettering, OH) has hosted many thanks to Neal Charske.   Bill

Bill,  I remember Phil talking about doing a one hour decathlon on the beach in southern California when he spent a summer out there.  George

George:

One of the reason's that Wabash College's coach was Owen Huntsman.  Stan's father.   He was a legend at Wabash.   He had coached at Earlham College in Richmond Indiana before going to Wabash.   Stan his son was a great athlete at Richmond HIgh School who followed his dad to Crawfordsville and was a football, javelin thrower, as well as a decathlete.  Owen had sponsored several decathlon's at the time in the 50's.  His experience led to him hosting the Olympic Trials.  A lot of great decathletes came out for small schools where they were often competing in many events in the dual meet season.  Stan went on to get a GA position at OHio University for football as well as coaching track.

The Ohio U. coach left (not sure of the circumstances) , but  Stan was given the position of carrying track forward and was then hired as the full time coach.  He was there several years with much success and a couple of Olympic Sprinters.   They in 1969 he was hired as the Tennessee Coach.   There, they were 94' National Champs and many SEC Championships.   He later went to Texas and coached the Longhorns.   Stan was one of the coaches in the '76 Olympics.  He was supposed to coach in 1980, but we boycotted the Moscow Olympics.  He was again of the staff in 1984 followed by being the Head Olympic Coach in 1988 in Seoul.

Another sidelight about Stan.  When his dad was the track coach at Earlham College, Stan was a senior at Richmond HS and  was a classmate of JIm Jones.   (The guru who lead this flock to Georgetown, Guyana where he led the mass suicide that occurred there).   Some time I will relate the story of one of the high school athletes that I coached at John Marshall High School (Indianapolis) whose family followed Jones to the suicide.  He and his father escaped the suicide as they were away buying supplies a the time.  He later married Jim Jones' daughter.

In any event, just thought I would relate to you what I knew about Wabash College and the decathlon.

Joe Rogers

That was really a complete description of Stan.  What a great guy and enjoyable coach.  He coached Lamar Preyor and Gary Loe from TMHS.  We had many IU / UT contests while I was at IU.  We always went to the Dogwood Relays / Sea Ray Relays / Tennessee Relays.  Always a good time.  Stan and Sam Bell were not only contemporaries but close friends.  Stan married a girl named Sylvia from Yorktown, OH, on the West Virginia border near Wheeling and Steubenville.  She was an exceptionally nice person as well - a real coach's wife.  Bill Schnier

1955
D: 01-02 JUL; S: Crawfordsville, IN
1	Bob Richards	6873	6862
2	Bob Lawson	6501	6492
3	Joel Shankle	6455	6445
4	Jim Podoley	6215	6212
5	Jim Brown	5579	5563
6	Dale Sexton	5525	5516
The second scores are the corrected version given in T&FNews
(August 1955). The first score is the official score. The 5th
place finisher, Jim Brown, is better known as a running back in
the NFL, and is often considered the greatest football player
ever.