After 3 years in Chinese prison, Detroit native and former CFL football player returns home

Michigan Public | By Doug Tribou,

Bryce Huffman

Published September 25, 2019 at 9:51 AM EDT

Wendell Brown is greeted by friends and family members after arriving at Detroit Metropolitan Airport Wednesday morning.

Listen to the conversation.

After being held in a Chinese prison, a Detroit man is home. Wendell Brown was greeted by friends and family at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. He went to China to coach American football there, but an incident in a bar in 2016 led to a criminal conviction that Brown still disputes.

Michigan Radio’s Bryce Huffman was at the airport when Brown arrived early Wednesday morning.

He spoke to Morning Edition host Doug Tribou about Brown’s time coaching kids in China, his time in prison, and his homecoming.

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Doug Tribou

Doug Tribou joined the Michigan Radio staff as the host of Morning Edition in June 2016. Doug first moved to Michigan in 2015 when he was awarded a Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

See stories by Doug Tribou

Bryce Huffman

Bryce Huffman is Michigan Radio’s West Michigan Reporter. Huffman has been serving as a reporter for Michigan Radio since Fall 2016. He has covered a variety of Michigan stories, including immigrants facing deportation, the Detroit-area doctor involved in the female genital mutilation case, and residents concerned about a massive sinkhole in Macomb County. A Detroit native, Huffman graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in Journalism. He joined Michigan Radio as a newsroom intern in May 2016.

See stories by Bryce Huffman