November 1, 1964: The Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-17 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh. Jim Brown rushed for 149 yards. A week earlier, he had surpassed former San Francisco 49ers running back Joe Perry, as the all-time leading rusher in American professional football history, at 9,723 yards. This performance allowed him to become the 1st player surpass the 10,000-yard barrier.
The Browns scored 3 touchdowns in the game, but Brown didn't score any of them. Ernie Green scored 2, and Clifton McNeil caught a touchdown pass from Frank Ryan. Lou Groza, then in his last pro season and the NFL's all-time leading scorer, kicked 3 field goals and 3 extra points.
Brown retired after the 1965 season, with 12,312 yards. This remained a record for 19 years. He played 9 seasons in the NFL, and led the League in rushing yards in all but 1 one of them: 1962, when Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers did so.
In 1999, The Sporting News listed Brown as Number 1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Number 2 was Jerry Rice, then still an active receiver with the San Francisco 49ers. In 2010, with Rice's career having reached unprecedented heights for a receiver, the NFL Network rated Rice 1st and Brown 2nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Players.
Brown played 12 games a year from 1957 to 1960, and 14 from 1961 to 1965. The NFL schedule was expanded to 16 games in 1978, and 17 in 2022. With that expansion, through the 2022 season, there have been 31 men who have rushed for at least 10,000 yards. There are 10 players who have surpassed Brown's former record of 12,312 yards. The current leader is Emmitt Smith, with 18,355 yards.
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November 1, 1964 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:
* The New York Giants beat the NFL version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 34-17 at Yankee Stadium.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 21-10 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Colts beat the San Francisco 49ers, 37-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Los Angeles Rams, 37-17 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Chicago Bears, 24-10 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* And the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 42-13 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburbs of Bloomington, Minnesota.
There were 3 games played in the American Football League:
* The Buffalo Bills beat the Houston Oilers, 24-10 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos, 49-39 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
* And the San Diego Chargers beat the Oakland Raiders, 31-17 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego.
* The day before, on Halloween Night, the New York Jets beat the Boston Patriots, 35-14 at Shea Stadium. This was one New York vs. Boston matchup that was not considered a rivalry at the time. It would become one.
There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Cincinnati Royals beat the Detroit Pistons, 114-101 at the Cincinnati Gardens. And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 116-115 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
And the NHL's entire "Original Six" was in action:
* The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Candiens, 3-1 at the old Madison Square Garden.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-2 at the Boston Garden.
* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
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