African-American athlete and actor Brown was raised in a Long Island ghetto and became an All-American football player at Syracuse University. He went on to be a star fullback for the Cleveland Browns from 1957-67, setting many records and becoming one of the game's most exciting players. Handsome and virile, he began appearing in films in 1964, then retired from football in 1967 to become a full-time movie star. Brown became the first major black "sex symbol" of American films.