Well-known sportscaster James Brown recently revealed the details behind his deeply held Christian faith during an interview with “Sports Spectrum Podcast” host Jason Romano.
Brown, host of CBS’s NFL pregame show, “The NFL Today,” explained how he found God after experiencing a profound emptiness in life that left him searching for something deeper.
READ: SCOTUS Hands Major Victory to Religious Schools: ‘A Triumph for Religious Freedom’
While the broadcaster said he didn’t grow up in a family of faith and didn’t regularly attend church during his childhood, he recalled sometimes hearing televangelists on the family TV, among other faith touch points.
“I was around people of faith, but it didn’t really stick,” he said. “I had heard about God, but didnt really have a relationship with God.”
Then, in the 1970s, Brown’s aspiring NBA career with the Atlanta Hawkes didn’t exactly come to fruition, so he ended up going into the corporate world. It was there, in Brown’s early 20s, that he experienced success, yet still felt completely unfulfilled.
“I’m coming home late one evening … and life just felt empty,” he said. “Here I am a young man 23, 24 years of age … there was a huge emptiness in my heart and I’m driving up this long road … and I remember saying, ‘Lord, I don’t really know who you are, but I’d like to know you, because there’s got to be more to life than this.'”
Brown said that he told God that he would give his life to him if the Lord would be teach him who he is. That started a 12-year search for a good, solid church. Today, Brown has a deep faith that he hopes to share with others — and considering his role in the sports broadcasting world, that’s a fascinating place to be.
“I want to truly learn more about Him. I want to be an excellent apologist for Him,” he told Romano. “I want to learn to pray but part of prayer life is listening. I want to make sure I’m hearing Him.”
Listen to Brown discuss his faith below: