Walking with a cane, 73-year-old Jim Brown hurried downstairs Sunday to congratulate Jerome Harrison for rushing for 286 yards and erasing the Cleveland Browns record he had held since 1957.
"I made sure I came down early to be able to greet Mr. Harrison," said Brown, who is an executive adviser for the Browns. "These young people deserve credit when they do something that great, especially under these circumstances. My heart goes out to him. I respect him a lot."
Until Sunday, Harrison had never run for more than 121 yards in a game in his life. In Cleveland's seven previous games, he'd rushed for 73 yards.
It's probably a safe bet he'd never been favorably compared with Brown, the man who led the NFL in rushing in eight of his nine seasons and remains in the opinion of many the greatest running back of all time. Twice -- in 1957 and again in 1961 -- Brown had rushed for 237 yards.
Watching Harrison erase his name from the Browns' single-game rushing record caused no pain, Brown said.
"The respect I get from these young men, that will never die," he said. "I'm very proud of that. This young man, I've encouraged him. I've been in his corner. It's almost like my belief in him has paid off. That's much greater than me holding onto one record or another record."
Harrison burst through big holes in Kansas City's injury-depleted line all day and scored three touchdowns, including the tiebreaker on a 28-yard burst after the Chiefs tied it 34-all with 2:06 to go.
"Harrison is a young man I talk to a lot," said Brown. "I respect his talent. I try to encourage him, and for him to have a day like today is really great."
Sitting in a suite in Arrowhead Stadium as Harrison closed in on his record, Brown was as excited as everyone else.
"The record's not doing me any good," he said with a hearty laugh. "But it's going to do him a lot of good. I might have a couple more they haven't broken. But eventually they're going to break them all."
Harrison's single-game mark also is the third-best in NFL history, trailing only the 296 yards posted by Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (against the San Diego Chargers in 2007) and the 295 yards recorded by then-Baltimore Raven Jamal Lewis (against the Browns in 2003).
The Associated Press contributed to this report
