JAMES BROWN JOINS CBS NEWS AS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

James Brown has been named Special Correspondent for CBS News, it was announced today by CBS News Chairman and 60 MINUTES Executive Producer Jeff Fager and David Rhodes, President, CBS News. Brown will contribute original reported pieces and will appear on various CBS News broadcasts.

Brown begins his assignment this Saturday, March 3, on CBS THIS MORNING: SATURDAY. Brown continues in his current role as host of THE NFL TODAY, CBS Sports' NFL pre-game studio show.

"James Brown is among the very best in our business," said Fager. "He is a fixture at CBS Sports and will be a great addition to CBS News because of his abilities, and because he also happens to be a great human being."

"Audiences know JB as the face of THE NFL TODAY and other sports broadcasts - what they may not know is his curiosity about the news," said Rhodes. "His wide-ranging interests from sports to faith to community service will be great assets to CBS News and to our viewers."

Since February 2006, James Brown has served as host for the CBS Television Network's NFL pre-game show, THE NFL TODAY, and had served as play-by-play announcer for the Network's coverage of college basketball, including the NCAA Tournament. He has also hosted the Network's Super Bowl pre-game show for its coverage of Super Bowl XLIV (2010) and for Super Bowl XLI (2007) in Miami.

In addition, Brown hosts INSIDE THE NFL alongside analysts Phil Simms, Cris Collinsworth and Warren Sapp. INSIDE THE NFL debuted in 2008 on SHOWTIME. In its first year on SHOWTIME, INSIDE THE NFL won the Sports Emmy(R) Award for Outstanding Studio Show-Weekly. Brown also hosted the Pacquiao/Mosley fight for SHOWTIME Pay-per-view.

Brown's first book, Role of a Lifetime: Reflections on Faith, Family and Significant Living, hit bookstores across the country in September 2009. In his memoir, Brown relayed how he found the role he was meant to play, highlighting both the good and bad decisions he made along the way, teaching readers how to discover life's purpose for themselves.

Brown served as host of FOX NFL SUNDAY for 12 years prior to returning to CBS Sports. He joined FOX Sports in June 1994 after a decade with CBS Sports. Brown hosted a two-hour radio show called "Hang Time with James Brown," and also wrote daily commentaries for Sporting News Radio. He also served as a reporter/correspondent for HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" and, for 12 years, hosted Championship Boxing matches for HBO.

Brown first joined CBS Sports in 1984, where he was part of the network's broadcast team for its NFL coverage and college basketball coverage as well as a reporter for the NBA Finals. He also was host of an afternoon show, the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. While at CBS he was also co-host of "CBS Sports Saturday/Sunday," a weekend anthology series.

His sportscasting career began in Washington, D.C. as play-by-play announcer for the NBA Washington Bullets (now known as the Wizards) for Home Team Sports and served as an analyst for black college basketball on BET. Early in his career, he hosted a mid-day program on WTEM, an all-sports radio station, co-hosted two weekly Washington-area sports programs, was sports anchor for WUSA-TV for six years, and hosted "James Brown's Pro Football Preview" for SportsFan Radio.

Throughout his career he has earned numerous awards, including three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Host for THE NFL TODAY (2007) and "FOX NFL Sunday" (1998, 1999)." Brown was honored with the 2009 Dick Schaap Memorial Award for Media Excellence. He received the 2007 Maxwell Football Club's Excellence in Broadcasting Award and the Dallas All Sports Association Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism, and was the first recipient of the annual Pat Summerall Award in 2006, at Super Bowl XL in Detroit. In 2005, he was honored with the Director's Award for Broadcasting from The 100 Black Men of America and the Greater Washington Urban League's Sam Lacy Award 2005. Brown was a 2010 honoree as one of the "Faces of Black History" celebrating black media legends who have impacted the black community through their achievements and positive examples, which have included Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks to the present-day heroes. He was the 2002 recipient of the International Black Broadcasters Association's Broadcasting Excellence Award and was chosen as 1999 Sportscaster of the Year (Studio Host) by the American Sportscaster Association. Brown was also awarded the Golden Mike Award (1998) by the Black Broadcasters Alliance, two NATAS Emmys (D.C. chapter) including the Glenn Brenner Award for excellence in sportscasting (1998), and the Quarterback Club of Washington's Sportscaster of the Year Award (1996). In 2010, he was named "Best Studio Host of the Decade" by Sports Illustrated.

Brown graduated from Harvard with a degree in American Government. A standout on the basketball court, he received All-Ivy League honors in his last three seasons at Harvard University and captained the team in his senior year. He was selected as a fourth-round draft pick by the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and a seventh-round pick by the Denver Nuggets. In 1996, Brown was inducted into the Harvard Hall of Fame.

He is a co-founder and principal of the Brown Technology Group, a certified minority-owned and operated information technology company, and is a founding partner of the Washington Nationals. Brown serves as AARP's Community Ambassador. He also is executive producer of the documentary "For Aaron," from JTwoFilms, which won "Best Documentary" at the Puerto Rico International Film Festival and the Indie Gathering Film Festival.

No stranger to charitable efforts, Brown hosts the P.U.L.S.E. Awards, featuring "The JB Awards," where NFL players are honored for their outstanding community service. He also teamed with the Verizon Foundation to launch a national campaign to end domestic violence against women and men. Additionally, Brown has worked on behalf of Darrell Green's Youth Life Foundation, the Neimann Pick Disease Foundation and the Marrow Foundation, The HollyRod Foundation, Special Olympics D.C., among numerous other charities and foundations.

He resides with his wife Dorothy in Maryland. Brown's daughter Katrina and her husband John have three daughters, Kaela, Jordyn and Aniya.