Did Jim Brown go by "Jimmy"?
 

I notice that most Jim Brown football cards use the name "Jimmy" instead of Jim. Did fans call him Jimmy?

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No later than 63 his cards said Jim. And his 59 Kahn's said Jim, which is interesting. Was it a Clemente type thing?

He's referred to as "Jimmy" and "Jim" interchangeably in many primary sources during this period. Though almost never is he called "James", always the shortened nickname in one form or the other.

And before people try to make it about a contemporary narrative like the Clemente thread, here's one of many examples one can find with a search from Ebony magazine and another one from Jet.

Because "Downtown Jimmy Brown" flows off the tongue nicer than "Jim".

I think he actually was called First Down Brown.

On a quick search it seems he always signed Jim Brown.

"James" had a lot of potential for confusion with the Godfather of Soul.

In the movies, where he could control his billing, i do not see him using "Jimmy", so I would guess he preferred "Jim"

His close friends in interviews and most sportswriters at the time almost seemed to use Jimmy from the get go. I assume that like almost every Jimmy, Tommy, and Mikey it was a childhood nickname and he transitioned as he aged. I would think that after the birth of Jim Jr., the youngster was likely passed the nickname and he moved on exclusively to the adult spelling.

I think it was likely just something that very close friends and family were apt to use as his signatures during his college years still used Jim. His high school yearbook even listed his preferred nickname as Jimmy, but he signed as Jim.

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As for fans as the OP asked, I would safely say that likely a huge percentage used Jimmy as almost all his Syracuse and early references were Jimmy and that would stick in peoples minds. I really doubt it was anything like the Robert/Bob issue with Clemente as that was a marketing thing to make him seem more "America friendly" by anglicizing the name for fans..."Jim" certainly did not not need anglicizing. I can't see that as a valid argument.