The Paul Hornung Award

Event to Honor Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, Most Versatile Player in Major College Football

Louisville, Ky. – February 12, 2018 – Jim Brown, considered by many the greatest player in the history of the NFL, will be the featured speaker at the eighth annual Paul Hornung Award Banquet presented by KentuckyOne Health, to be held March 7 at the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville.

The 2017 Paul Hornung Award winner Saquon Barkley, an All-American running back and all-purpose player from Penn State, will be the honored guest at the banquet. The Paul Hornung Award, presented by Texas Roadhouse, is given annually by the Louisville Sports Commission to the most versatile player in major college football.

Brown and Hornung have been friends for nearly six decades. Both earned All-American status in 1956, Brown at running back for Syracuse and Hornung at quarterback for Notre Dame. They played together on the old Chicago College All Star team against NFL players, were first-round draft picks, and went on to stellar NFL careers. Both played for only one NFL team: Hornung 10 years with Green Bay and Brown nine years with Cleveland.

A 6′-2″, 235-pound bruising yet elusive runner with breakaway speed, Brown was a Pro Bowl player in each of his nine seasons with Cleveland, led the league in rushing eight times, and was named AP NFL Player of the Year three times. He carried the ball 2,359 times for 12,312 rushing yards and 106 touchdowns, which were all records when he retired from the Browns after the 1965 season. He averaged 104.1 rushing yards per game, the only player in NFL history to average more than 100 rushing yards per game for his career.

Hornung refers to Jim Brown as “the greatest football player ever to look through a face mask.”

A native of St. Simons Island, Ga., Brown grew up in Manhasset, Long Island, and earned 13 letters in high school in football, lacrosse, track, and basketball. At Syracuse, in addition to earning four letters in football, Brown also was a multi-sport star. As a sophomore, he averaged 15 points a game in basketball, as a junior he finished fifth in the decathlon at the Collegiate Track Championships, and as a senior he earned first team All-America in lacrosse. He once scored a hat-trick in lacrosse against Army after competing in a track meet earlier in the same day. Brown is a member of the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame and the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Brown went on to a successful career as an actor, with numerous lead roles and more than 40 total movie credits that include The Dirty Dozen, Ice Station Zebra, 100 Rifles, and Any Given Sunday. Brown also has made social issues one of the cornerstones of his life. He has helped foster the growth of black-owned businesses, mentored youth in inner cities and prisons, and has spoken out on numerous causes for justice and equality.

Jim Brown and his wife, Monique, reside in Los Angeles.