James Brown Says Vick "60 Minutes" Interview Is "Not A Puff Piece"

Brown (r) Says Focus Was To Gauge Vick's (l) Remorse During Interview Airing Sunday

CBS' James Brown said his interview with free agent QB Michael Vick, which will air Sunday on "60 Minutes," is "not a puff piece" and "not a PR interview at all." Brown: "I was essentially trying to get inside of his head to understand his mindset -- why he did what he did, why it continued, what he learned while in prison for that 18-month period of time and two months in home confinement, and where his head is now." Brown said his "overwhelming focus" going into the interview was to gauge Vick's remorse. He noted Vick was "very resolute" in terms of remorse, but the audience "should make its own mind up with respect to that." Brown: "The question that folks wanted to hear the answer to is exactly what you said (about Vick's remorse), and I went at that repeatedly and aggressively with Michael Vick. I think he answered the question very sincerely." Meanwhile, Brown noted Vick was introduced to dog fighting, "like so many folks around the country," at a young age. Brown: "He didn't see much wrong with it because the older people in his neighborhood were doing the same thing. Number two: there was, in his mind, tacit approval for such. He shared a story about dog fighting taking place in the neighborhood. There was a large crowd watching what was taking place. The police drove through the neighborhood, got out of their cars, wanted to make certain that there was no fighting amongst the people watching, saw the dog fighting, got back in the car and took off. So, in his mind, that was kind of tacit approval" ("NFL Total Access," NFL Network, 8/12).

INTERESTING CHOICE: The GLOBE & MAIL's Bruce Dowbiggin wrote it is "intriguing" that CBS chose Brown to interview Vick, as "60 Minutes" has an "announced staff longer than Andy Rooney's eyebrows." Dowbiggin: "Will Brown -- an African American -- give Vick a more or less sympathetic hearing?" (GLOBESPORTS.com, 8/12). Meanwhile, SportsBusiness Journal's Daniel Kaplan said Vick "probably should be coming on this show, any show he can, and get his message out. He should not be just giving exclusive interviews" ("America's Nightly Scoreboard," Fox Business, 8/12).

TIME TO FOCUS ON FOOTBALL: NFL Net's Rich Eisen said Vick after he signs with an NFL team needs to "show up at the large press conference and he goes, ‘I answered that on '60 Minutes.' I can provide you the transcript. Let’s talk football'" (NFL Network, 8/12).