Belichick: NFL should retire Jim Brown's jersey league-wide

Former NFL head coach Bill Belichick would like to see Jim Brown's No. 32 retired across the league following his death last year.

Belichick spoke about Brown on the latest episode of the "Let's Go!" podcast, suggesting the NFL pay tribute to the legendary running back and civil rights activist in a similar fashion to how Jackie Robinson was honored by MLB.

"I was having a conversation the other day talking about Jim Brown, and I think it'd be a great move for the NFL to retire his number like baseball did with Jackie," Belichick said.

Before the proposal, Belichick recalled a visit Brown made to the Cleveland Browns in the early 1990s when Belichick was head coach.

"When I brought Jim Brown back to Cleveland the first time in '92, well '91, then he came back in ‘92. And, honestly, the rookies that he talked to didn’t really know who Jim was," Belichick said. "I never made that mistake again. I made sure that before I introduced him, they got a good look at him on the field and off the field and the things that he did not only for the game but for the racial tension in the '60s and in his Amer-I-Can program.

"But his work with Bill Russell and Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) and Muhammad Ali was just legendary. So when I have an opportunity to talk to a team, people are gonna learn the history of the game whether they want to or not."

Brown spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the Browns, helping lead the team to a pre-Super Bowl era championship in 1964. His No. 32 is one of five numbers retired by the Browns.

Brown died on May 18, 2023, at the age of 87.