Jim Brown’s biggest fan clings to memories of star running back

CLEVELAND, Ohio – When Ray Prisby woke this morning, he dressed for a gym workout. So he grabbed a hoodie, one of the many Cleveland Browns clothing items he owns.

“It has a gigantic picture of Jim Brown on the front,” he said. “There was no particular reason I put it on today. I always wear Cleveland Browns something when I go to the gym, and I just happened to put this one on today.”

Brown died Thursday night at the age of 87.

Read more about Jim Brown’s legacy in sports, civil rights and pop culture

It was a fitting tribute for Prisby, a Youngstown resident who has amassed thousands of Cleveland Browns artifacts over decades, and who has been recognized as one of the best fans in the country. Prisby followed the Browns when he served in the Air Force, trying desperately to get reception to hear games on the radio, a coat hanger clipped to a car antenna. He mailed a new VCR back home to his sister and told her to tape every game. If the team played on Sunday, he would have a tape by Thursday.

Prisby – who in 2021 was one of three people named to the Ford Hall of Fans at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton – met Brown in the 1980s. It would be the first of at least 20 meetings between the men over the decades.

Prisby remembers that first meeting as clear as he can recall Brown’s statistics that have etched him in record books since the running back walked off the field for the last time more than half a century ago.

“I still have the jersey that he signed,” Prisby said. “He signed the jersey, someone took a shot with a Polaroid, and it spit out the picture. He signed the jersey, and then he signed the picture.”

It’s hard to say that moment spurred his hobby, of collecting all things Browns and Brown, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

“It had gotten so bad every time I came to a show, his wife was sitting there, saying, ‘Oh my, what are you getting signed today?’ ” Prisby said. “I always had at least 10 items.”

On Nov. 16, 2020, it was Brown coming to see Prisby.

“It was a surprise. I had no idea he was coming,” he said. “As I was putting everything together I’m thinking, ‘OK, I just have too much Jim Brown stuff. I have to set up a Jim Brown room.’ Naturally, when he came, where do you think I took him? Straight to the Jim Brown room. We got to spend 20 minutes in the room.”

Prisby said he found himself talking more to Brown’s wife, to explain the history of the artifacts. But it was Brown who was soaking up his own life.

“A minute into me explaining stuff, he looks at me and says, ‘I don’t remember this stuff, either.’ “

That “stuff” is a veritable museum of thousands of items, a shrine to the great running back who trudged across Cleveland Municipal Stadium in the late 1950s and through the 1965 season, his No. 32 never shying from defenders trying, desperately, to close in on him. There were no limits to Brown on the field, or what Prisby collected off of it.

“If I collected a helmet – I call it going down the rabbit hole – I’ve got to collect every helmet. If it’s a bobblehead, every bobblehead. If I get a pennant, every pennant, and so on. It’s the same thing with Jim Brown.”

He kept his eyes open for items, big and small. Game-used jerseys, cleats, gloves, pants. Almost a decade ago, the Western Reserve Historical Society’s “1964: When Browns Town was Title Town” commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Browns’ championship. It couldn’t have been done without Prisby’s help. Plaques crediting him were posted throughout the exhibit, a makeshift locker room/museum.

Ironically, of all the items he owns, Prisby’s favorite might be a contract, famous for what isn’t on it.

Brown’s signature.

“I have the one that he would have signed when he got back from filming ‘The Dirty Dozen.’ Art Modell signed it, but where he was supposed to sign it, it was blank.”

The team owner and star player were embroiled in a stubborn ultimatum, with Modell wanting his running back with the team, not in Hollywood.

Modell pushed. Brown retired.

But his career accomplishments remained through generations of fans, and especially with Ray Prisby.

“Think of it like this: He was almost like Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan. No running back has even remotely come close to what he has done. Every year you’ve led the league in rushing, except for one when he (was injured).”

When Brown retired, he had averaged 104.3 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry. He started all 118 games he played in.

“He was a man among boys,” Prisby said.

“It’s just – maybe this is the spiritual side of me – but greats like that never really die. Their body may not be with us anymore, but their memories and everything they did, it stays with us.”

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I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.

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