DETROIT (AP) A former college football player who spent three years in prison in China for his involvement in a bar fight says he has a newfound appreciation for the word freedom now that he's returned home to Detroit.

Wendell Brown, who played at Ball State University in Indiana, told The Associated Press after arriving back in Detroit on Wednesday that people don't really understand the meaning of freedom until they lose it.

Brown was teaching English and American football in southwest China when he was arrested in September 2016 and charged with intentional assault. Brown denied hitting a man 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.