When we talk about Jim Brown, the images that usually come to mind are a freight train in a Cleveland Browns jersey or a gritty action hero staring down a villain in a dusty Western. We think of the man who averaged over five yards per carry and walked away from the NFL at the absolute peak of his powers to join the cast of The Dirty Dozen.
But there’s a whole other chapter that usually gets whispered about or mentioned as a footnote in sports trivia. In September 1974, the toughest man in football decided to take it all off.
The Centerfold That Shook the 70s
It wasn't just a shirtless shot. Jim Brown in Playgirl was a full-on, full-frontal cultural explosion.
At the time, Playgirl was trying to do for women what Playboy had done for men, but with a feminist-adjacent edge that leaned into the sexual revolution. They wanted the biggest icons of masculinity to prove their "liberation." They got Jim Brown.
The September 1974 issue featured Brown as the "Man for September." He wasn't the first athlete to do it—Fred Williamson (The Hammer) had posed the year before—but Brown was different. He was the gold standard of the NFL. He was a guy who didn't just play the game; he dominated the psyche of American sports. Seeing him in a multi-page nude spread, photographed by David Meyer, was genuinely shocking for a public that still viewed athletes as strictly wholesome or "one of the boys."
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Why Did He Actually Do It?
Honestly, Jim Brown never did anything by accident. You’ve gotta understand the context of his life in the mid-70s. He’d been out of the league for nearly a decade and was a legitimate movie star. He’d already broken massive color barriers, most notably in 1969’s 100 Rifles where he shared a steamy, interracial love scene with Raquel Welch. That was unheard of back then.
For Brown, the Playgirl shoot was an extension of that same defiance. He viewed his body as a symbol of Black power and autonomy. In his autobiography, Out of Bounds, he was pretty blunt about his sexuality. He didn't see nudity as something to be ashamed of; he saw it as a way to reclaim the narrative of the Black male physique from a society that had spent centuries trying to control or demonize it.
Kinda bold? Definitely.
The Fallout and the "Hairy Virgo"
If you track down a vintage copy today—and they go for a decent chunk of change on eBay—the cover describes him with the somewhat hilarious 70s tagline: "Hairy Virgo Man."
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It’s easy to laugh at the aesthetic now, but the reaction at the time was mixed. Some fans felt it "cheapened" his legacy as a serious civil rights activist. Others saw it as the ultimate "alpha" move—a man so confident in his status that he didn't care what the critics thought.
What’s wild is that he remains the only Pro Football Hall of Famer to ever go full-frontal for a major magazine. Many have done ESPN’s The Body Issue, sure, but that’s "artistic" and carefully shadowed. Brown didn't do shadows. He went all the way, just like he did on the 106 touchdowns he scored in his career.
A Complicated Legacy of Manhood
We can't talk about Jim Brown's "liberated" image without acknowledging the darker side of his personal history. While he was posing for magazines and advocating for Black economic empowerment through his Amer-I-Can program, he was also facing serious allegations of violence against women.
Over several decades, multiple women accused him of assault. He was famously charged with throwing a woman off a balcony in 1968 (though she later claimed she fell), and he spent time in jail as late as 2002 for refusing to attend court-ordered domestic violence counseling after an incident with his wife.
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This creates a weird, uncomfortable tension when looking back at the Playgirl shoot. Was it a moment of feminist progress—a man finally being the "object" for the female gaze? Or was it just another manifestation of a hyper-masculine ego that sometimes crossed dangerous lines? Experts like Dave Zirin, who wrote Jim Brown: Last Man Standing, often point out that Brown was a man of immense contradictions. He was a hero to millions and a terror to some who knew him personally.
What You Should Know If You're a Collector
If you're looking for this specific piece of pop culture history, here is the brass-tacks info:
- Issue Date: September 1974.
- Photographer: David Meyer.
- Rarity: High. Because it was a "men's magazine for women," many copies were thrown away or hidden, making well-preserved issues valuable.
- Content: It includes a long-form interview and multiple photos, including the centerfold.
The Bigger Picture
The story of Jim Brown in Playgirl isn't just about a naked celebrity. It’s about a specific moment in American history where the lines between sports, Hollywood, and the sexual revolution were all blurring together. Brown was at the center of that blur.
He proved that an athlete could be more than just a guy in a helmet. He could be a movie star, a political force, and a sex symbol—all while refusing to play by anyone else's rules. Whether you admire the boldness or find it a bit much, you can't deny that no one else has ever done it quite like he did.
Next Steps for the Curious:
To truly understand the era, look for the 1989 autobiography Out of Bounds. It’s where Brown explains his philosophy on his Playgirl appearance in his own words. If you're a sports memorabilia collector, check specialized vintage magazine dealers rather than general bookstores; the September 1974 issue is often categorized under "Celebrity History" or "Black Americana" due to its cultural significance.