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CBS host James Brown has a powerful message about domestic violence in the NFL

"Our silence is deafening and deadly."

 

Michelle Jaworski

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Posted on Sep 12, 2014   Updated on May 30, 2021, 2:43 pm CDT

On Thursday night, all eyes were on CBS reporter James Brown.

The Pittsburgh Steelers faced off against the Baltimore Ravens, who played their first game since Ray Rice was released and indefinitely suspended, and the mix of journalists, former NFL coaches, and players spent most of the pregame show discussing the events of the past week.

With a bigger audience tuning in for the game, Brown ended the hour with a message for the NFL and its fans. Two years ago, he called for people to take a stance against domestic violence and how they treat women, after a Kansas City Chiefs linebacker killed his girlfriend before killing himself. On Thursday night, he found himself doing it again.

“There has been, appropriately so, intense and widespread outrage following the release of the video showing what happened inside the elevator at the casino,” Brown said. “But wouldn’t it be productive if this collective outrage, as my colleagues have said, could be channeled to truly hear and address the long-suffering cries for help by so many women? And, as they said, do something about it?”

It’s powerful and Brown doesn’t hold back, but it’s also something that shouldn’t have to be said. It should be common sense.

Photo via okalkavan/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III

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*First Published: Sep 12, 2014, 11:43 am CDT