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Athens, GA (Dec 18, 2008) - There are not many on-air personalities like CBS Sports' James Brown (JB) working in television sports. There are no airs about him, even though he went to Harvard and has one of the most visible jobs in network sports. There is nothing fake or pretentious about the man. Who he is now is how we was in NFL strike season of 1987, when I was working as his runner during a Washington Redskins game at RFK Stadium. He was always accessible to anybody and everybody who wanted to talk to him, and he treated everybody the same: as equals and human beings.

The December 2008 issue of Washingtonian Magazine has a fantastic cover story on JB, that includes this telling excerpt on the man:

Mary Ann Brown would be proud of her eldest son at age 57. He doesn’t drink or smoke or curse. He works hard. Every week during football season, he takes the train to Philadelphia midweek to tape Inside the NFL and goes to New York every weekend to do live hosting on The NFL Today.

In between, he runs Brown Technology Group, an information-technology firm he owns with Reggie Brown (no relation) and his brother Terence. He married well and raised a daughter, goes to church and Bible-study classes. He’s the patriarch of an extended family that includes siblings, nieces, and nephews—and a granddaughter.

Now, as they say in sports-speak, JB has a chance to take it to the next level.

Articles like this also let readers know things that they may not have known otherwise, such as

1. Talent Statistician to the Stars Marty Aronoff, who despite rumors to the contrary did not do stats for the first Harvard-Yale game in 1875, was the producer who gave JB a shot at doing sports news at Channel 9 in Washington, DC; and

2. He is a techno-geek at heart.

JB is a person who gives back to the community in many ways. Whether it is through the various charities he is involved in, or his efforts to advance minorities in television sports and other places, he is committed to what he says and does.

Do take the time to read the article. It is well worth your time.

And thanks to rising talent statistician to the southern stars and NFL blogger Chris Pika for passing this link along.

Related Link(s)

James Brown: Making Mama Proud (Washingtonian Magazine)
Blog and Tackle: Chris Pika's NFL Blog