Thursday marked the five-year anniversary of one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history.

On November 19, 2004, Ron Artest, then with the Pacers, went into the stands in Detroit to go after a fan that had thrown a cup of beer on him.

John Green, the fan that helped initiate the incident, spoke on ESPN's "First Take" Thursday. He said that Artest called him several months ago to apologize.

"He said that he was sorry, that ... the whole thing embarrassed him as it did me," Green said. "He wanted to do something for the community for troubled youth. Of course, I can't do much on this end without him.

"We tried to come up with something to give back to the community and come up with something positive. It's not like it's not always going to be known as the brawl, but maybe we could take something good out of it. We're going to try to do something in inner-city Detroit or L.A., maybe after the season ends and he has more free time on his hands."

Green was convicted of misdemeanor assault, ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and banned from Detroit home games for life.

Artest was suspended for 73 games, the remainder of the 2004-05 season, and lost roughly $5 million in salary.

"I remember throwing the cup, actually a cup of Diet Coke, not a beer, but I had been drinking and I've had issues with alcohol in the past," Green added "I remember [Artest] running into the stands and grabbing the wrong person and I felt bad. I grabbed Artest from behind, the whole thing was kind of a huge blur. It happened so fast."