Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski began his post-practice news conference May 24 in Berea offering his condolences to Monique Brown, the widow of Jim Brown, the former Browns running back who passed away on May 18 at age 87.
Stefanski’s message went far, far beyond the trite 10-second “thoughts and prayers” remarks often uttered on such occasions.
“I want to start with my very sincere condolences to Monique, to the entire Brown family, to all of the friends and family and fans of Jim Brown,” he said. “As you all know, we lost somebody very important to our franchise, to our league, to our society. The impact that he had was immeasurable.
“I’m sure there are people that knew Jim as a player, as a friend, much better than I did. So I can’t add a ton to that. But my brief interactions with him are something I’ll never forget, just talking to him the first day I got hired.
"I got on the phone with him, which was a thrill. I was able to meet Jim over the years a couple of times, and just a mountain of a man in many ways. We lost a very big part of our family. There will be time over the next few days, weeks, months, years to memorialize Jim. And we'll let you know what the plans are as we keep moving forward. But obviously, I just want Monique and her family to know that we're thinking about them. And that's something that I know our players and coaches and staff here are constantly thinking about."
Stefanski grew up in Philadelphia. His father, Ed Stefanski, is a senior advisor with the Detroit Pistons. Kevin called his father soon after the initial phone call with Brown. It was like, "Guess who I just talked to?"
"My dad grew up in Philadelphia, but he was a huge Jim Brown fan, and that's not uncommon for a lot of people growing up at that age (69)," Stefanski said. "I don't care where you were growing up. You became a Browns fan. You became a Jim Brown fan early on in your life. So for my dad, he loved Wilt Chamberlain and he Jim loved Jim Brown.
"So, for me, after I hung up the phone with Jim, I very quickly called my dad, and he couldn't believe it. And then just having (Brown) in town, I think it was a couple of years ago, just spending some time with him, I mean, just unbelievable what he's been through in his life, and we educated our players on that last year. We took them down to the Hall of Fame (in Canton) and we watched "Jim Brown a Football Life." It's my job to continue to educate our guys on what he's meant to our franchise, to our league. You stand on the shoulders of giants, and that's Jim Brown."
