ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) Former college football player and American citizen Wendell Brown has returned home to Michigan after being imprisoned in China for his involvement in a bar fight.

Brown told reporters after his flight landed Wednesday at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus that he's been ''waiting on this moment for years.'' A crowd greeted him with cheers, and he offered thanks to his supporters.

Brown, who played for Ball State University in Indiana, was teaching English and American football in southwest China when he was arrested in September 2016 and charged with intentional assault. The Detroit native denied hitting a man at a bar and said he was defending himself after being attacked.

Brown was sentenced to four years in prison, but that was reduced to three years by a Chinese court.