I'm a d*ckhead, says Mal Brown

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou (pic) says Mal Brown's views are not shared by todays football community.

EX-RICHMOND player Mal Brown has admitted to being a "dickhead" for joking that Aboriginal footballers were cannibals in what he described as a light-hearted address at football lunch.

His comments have been condemned by the AFL and Brown on Thursday made an apology of sorts when he spoke with Fairfax Radio.

Brown said during the function on Wednesday ex-players were taking the mickey out of each other and he made some remarks "which weren't as funny as I thought".

He said he grew up with Aborigines in Western Australia and played football with them.

He said his comments, referring to the early days of the EJ Whitten Legends matches, were meant to reflect what happened 15 years ago and not what happens in 2010.

Brown, who played 14 games with the Tigers in 1974, said the term "cannibal" or expression "little black bugger" were used as terms of endearment.

"There was never any racism, or they were treated worse than anybody else - they were treated exactly the same as everybody else by me because they were given a fair go," Brown said.

"All you eastern states people, you think you can solve the problem by just giving them money over the years.

"The most important thing is like bringing up your children, you've got to put in time ... my life has been about putting in time and being friends with them all my life."

He said while his comments were meant to be in jest "sensitive people told me it wasn't humorous and I made a dickhead of myself and I accept that".

"I'm not a racist, I've helped Aboriginal boys and grown up with them all my life," he said.

"I'm happy for the Aboriginal people to judge me when I die for what I have done, not for what I've said."