James Brown

Sportscaster James Brown shared his enthusiasm for sports with fans for decades. He was born on Feb. 25, 1951, in Washington, D.C. He received a degree in American Government from Harvard University as well as honors for his time on the college basketball team. When his aspirations to play professional basketball fell through, Brown turned to business. He worked in the private sector until he received a job offer to announce NBA games for the Washington Bullets. He later found his way to CBS Sports, becoming a play-by-play broadcaster in 1987 for pro football and college basketball. He hosted afternoon reports for the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics. He left CBS and moved to Los Angeles to become an inaugural co-host on "Fox NFL Sunday" (1994- ). He also led the studio team for the first four years of "Fox NHL Saturday" (1994-1999). His prominence in the world of sportscasting led to appearances in video games. Live-action footage of Brown was used in the game "NHL '97," and he lent his voice to "Madden NFL 2001." Outside of sports, Brown made a guest appearance on the sitcom "Married... With Children" (Fox, 1987-1997) and was tapped to host "The World's Funniest!" (Fox, 1997-2000), a presentation of comedic home videos, outtakes and commercials. When a position opened at CBS Sports' New York studio, Brown returned to the network, in part to be closer to his D.C. hometown. He hosted the NFL pregame show "The NFL Today" (CBS, 1998- ) and "Inside the NFL" (Showtime, 1977- ). He has one daughter, Katrina, with his wife, Dorothy.