TV tryout shows Brown is ‘a work in progress’

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This article was published 16/02/2012 (5080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not all Blue Bomber free agents sat nervously by the phone Wednesday.

Followers of the CFL free-agent coverage probably noticed Bombers defensive lineman Doug Brown was in the lineup for TSN’s online coverage as the first day of the annual open market got underway.

Brown, who continues to float along the premise this off-season that he “hasn’t officially retired but is definitely done playing football,” is being looked at by the national sports media giant this week to see if he has a future in front of the bright lights.

He was a part of a three-person team (joining Dave Naylor and Dave Randorf) that analyzed the various free agents and the potential signings clubs might make. The taped segments were shown online (tsn.ca) and repackaged for SportsCentre. The trio will be taping segments today, as well.

It’s been widely assumed Brown would be a natural fit as a television analyst, given his current media associations (he writes a weekly column for the Free Press and hosts a weekly one-hour radio show on CJOB) and his ability to voice an opinion on most things.

This week is essentially his TV tryout.

How did the CFL veteran think he did?

“I don’t really know yet,” he said from Toronto. “I guess my initial reviews are that it went OK, especially given that it’s a new form of media for me. I haven’t dabbled in television as much as I have with print and radio. It was a lot of fun, but it’s definitely a work in progress, for sure.

“It is a little off-putting seeing yourself on television. When you’re on the radio, you don’t have to look anywhere or put makeup on.”

Brown said he got more comfortable with each segment. The tricky parts: Finding the right camera to look at and knowing when to jump into the conversation.

Another challenge for the 37-year-old: keeping his thoughts short and sweet.

Brown is a print and radio reporter’s dream when it comes to providing workable copy via his answers on any subject under the sun. For TV, though, where sound bites are required to be a little more succinct and punchy, his tendency to eat up inches and minutes wasn’t going to work as well.

Eloquent, yes. Efficient, no.

“I was mindful of that going in,” he said.

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“To be honest, the hardest thing for me (Wednesday) was that anytime I was referencing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, I kept saying ‘we.’ That’s going to take some time to get used to.”

Regarding his own free-agent status, Brown only received one telephone call.

“My agent called me (Tuesday) and said ‘Are you sure?’ I told him let’s just wait and see how this audition with TSN goes before we do anything else. Having said that, I’m staying with my intention that 2011 was my last year.”

Brown wasn’t sure when he plans to make his retirement official, adding any plans regarding an announcement have yet to be finalized.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca