Jim Brown meets with Trump

Max Zahn
After meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, Manhasset native Jim Brown (right) sits with Trump transition team member Anthony Scaramucci, a resident of Port Washington.

Former NFL running back Jim Brown, a Manhasset native, met with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower last Tuesday.

“When he goes through what he went through to become the president, he got my admiration,” Brown told CNN after the meeting. “No one gave him a chance.”

The meeting was described as a discussion about issues facing  African-Americans. Former NFL linebacker Ray Lewis and rap musician Kanye West were also present.

Speaking on race relations with CNN’s Brooke Baldwin after the meeting, Brown referred to his upbringing in Manhasset.

“The three greatest people in my life were white, OK. My high school coach, my high school superintendent and my mentor in Manhasset, Long Island,” he said.

Though he supported Hillary Clinton in the general election, Brown said he was impressed with how Trump approached the meeting.

“The reception that I got today from [Trump] I will always remember that because he listened to us and he knows that we can bring something to him to help the people of this country,” Brown said.

An inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and eight-time NFL rushing leader, Brown participated in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and helped create a business preparedness organization called the Negro Industrial Economic Union, according to www.cleveland.com.

In 1988, he founded Amer-I-Can, an organization that offers personal development for young African-Americans.

After his meeting with Trump, Brown was photographed with Trump transition team member Anthony Scaramucci, a resident of Port Washington.

“I fell in love with [Trump],” Brown told CNN. “Because he really talks about helping African-Americans, black people and that’s why I’m here.”

Share this Article