James Brown (television)

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James Brown
Born February 25, 1951 (1951-02-25) (age 57)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation Sportscaster
Spouse Dorothy
Children Katrina

James Brown (born February 25, 1951), commonly called "J.B.", is an American sports announcer known for being the host of the FOX network's NFL pregame show FOX NFL Sunday. Beginning with the 2006 NFL season, Brown hosted The NFL Today on CBS, and returned to play-by-play of CBS coverage of NCAA basketball, along with co-hosting the Saturday Early Show.

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[edit] Early life

Born in Bethesda, Maryland, Brown's involvement in sports began while playing basketball at DeMatha Catholic High School in nearby Hyattsville. After doing the same at Harvard University, the three-time All-Ivy League was drafted with the 62nd pick overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1973 NBA Draft.

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[edit] First stint at CBS

After a brief playing career, Brown entered the corporate world, working for such companies as Xerox and Eastman Kodak. Brown went into sports broadcasting in 1984 when he was offered a job doing Washington Bullets TV games. He later moved on to an anchor position at WDVM-TV (later WUSA-TV) in Washington, D.C. and to some work at CBS. While at CBS Sports, Brown worked as a play-by-play announcer for NFL telecasts and reported on major events such as the NBA Finals and the Winter Olympic Games. He has also reported on college basketball games.

[edit] The move to FOX

In 1994, Brown moved on to his biggest claim to fame yet as he accepted the position of host of the NFL on FOX pregame show. He shared the set with former football players Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long. Jimmy Johnson, Cris Collinsworth and Ronnie Lott have graced the fourth seat on the desk over the years.

From 1994-1998, Brown was the lead studio host for FOX NHL Saturday. He appeared in a similar capacity in the EA Sports video game NHL '97, which used full motion video.

Following the 2005 NFL season, Brown left FOX in order to rejoin CBS Sports.

[edit] Other appearances

Brown has also hosted The World's Funniest! (similar to America's Funniest Home Videos and other funny videos) on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Coast to Coast (a syndicated radio show formerly hosted by Bob Costas), and served as a correspondent for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Aside from his HBO and CBS duties, Brown hosted a weekday radio sports talk show that aired weekdays on Sporting News Radio for several years. Brown left the network in April 2006. He has since, returned to Sporting News Radio with Arnie Spanier.

Brown regularly appears on the syndicated radio program, The Don and Mike Show.

Brown was removed from college basketball coverage for CBS after a one year stint in 2008.

[edit] Personal

Brown resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife Dorothy and daughter Katrina. He formerly had a second residence in Century City, California, when working on FOX because their NFL program was based in Los Angeles, unlike the traditional New York location for studio shows in the NFL. He was also named one of the 100 most influential student athletes by the NCAA On January 12, 2008; James Brown became a grandfather when his daughter had her first child.

On May 3, 2006, Brown became a minority owner of the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team. Brown was one of a handful of investors in the group led by Washington, D.C. real estate developer Ted Lerner.

Preceded by
First host		 FOX NFL Sunday host
1994-2005		 Succeeded by
Joe Buck and Curt Menefee
Preceded by
Greg Gumbel		 The NFL Today host
2006-Present		 Succeeded by
Current host

[edit] External links