NFL commentator James Brown speaks at College of the Ozarks

Longtime NFL commentator and CBS News correspondent James Brown was on the College of the Ozarks campus last night for the school’s fall convocation.

Brown, the host of “The NFL Today” on CBS, sat down with School of the Ozarks Dean Brad Dolloff for a conversation on living a life of influence. According to a news release, Brown shared about his faith, work, life lessons and the people most influential to him.

“The most famous and important people in my life were my mother and father, who are in heaven right now,” Brown told the crowd. “I like to say they were high school graduates, but they had Ph.D.s in drive and determination. All they wanted for their five children was to get the best in life by earning it the old-fashioned way.”

With C of O student athletes and band members on stage with them inside the Keeter Gymnasium, Dolloff asked Brown about the intersection of his faith and his work.

“I know that my company did not hire me to proselytize,” he responded. “They hired me to do my job excellently. My faith is what they get because that is who I am. I try to model my faith, but I don’t walk around trying to beat people over the head with a Bible. If they ask me a question, they are going to get a biblical answer.”

Brown toured the Point Lookout campus earlier in the day and concluded with encouraging words for the student body.

“I got a chance to see the college in person today with all these outstanding young people who give me hope. There is hope, as God says in his word,” said Brown, who also is a minister and speaks at churches and conferences nationwide. “No matter what we see going on out in the world. We have some awesome people here at C of O, and God is getting ready to unleash them on the whole world. All I would encourage each of you to do is to not compromise.

“From what I’ve seen the students doing here, Hard Work U. is absolutely an appropriate way to describe this college,” he told them. “I love seeing the teamwork that’s evident among the students here.”

C of O has previously hosted other convocation speakers, including Mike Rowe, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Steve Forbes, Bill O’Reilly and Dave Ramsey.