JOE DIMAGGIO - FIRST DAY COVER SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: JIM BROWN - HFSID 45763

JIM BROWN and JOE DiMAGGIO
Jim Brown and Joe DiMaggio sign a philatelic envelope honoring Physical Fitness.
Philatelic Envelope signed: "Jim Brown" and "Joe DiMaggio", 6½x3½. First Day Cover honoring "Physical Fitness", block of four 20-cent stamps affixed, postmarked Houston, Texas, May 14, 1983, FIRST DAY OF ISSUE. Football's JIM BROWN and baseball's JOE DiMAGGIO are each in his sport's Hall of Fame. JOE DiMAGGIO played centerfield for the New York Yankees from 1936-1942 and 1946-1951 with a lifetime batting average of .325. The Hall of Famer was elected to the All-Star team every year, was American League batting champion in 1939 and 1940 and home run leader in 1948. He holds the major league consecutive game-hitting streak of 56 (1941); called baseball's greatest feat by many. He was Most Valuable Player in 1939, 1941, and 1947. At Baseball's 1969 Centennial Celebration, he was named the game's greatest living player. A first team All-American fullback at Syracuse, JAMES NATHANEL "JIM" BROWN (born in 1936) was the NFL's Rookie of the Year in 1957. In nine remarkable NFL seasons (1957-1965) with the Cleveland Browns, Brown averaged 104 yards per game and a record 5.2 yards per rushing carry, and he never missed a game! Brown rushed for over 1,000 yards in seven seasons, at a time when the NFL season was only 12 (and then 14) games long. In 2002, "Sporting News" named Brown, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, as the greatest professional football player of the 20th century. In 1966, he retired from football at the top of his game to pursue a movie career. While his acting skills never matched his football prowess, Brown performed credibly in such films as Ice Station Zebra (1968), 100 Rifles (1969) and Original Gangstas (1996). A community activist, he has also worked to promote Black-owned businesses, to equip ex-convicts with job skills and to mediate disputes among rival youth gangs. Block of stamps cover top letters of "DiMaggio". Fine condition.