Current New York Jets and former Chicago Bears Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall returns to his weekly analyst role on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” this season. In the season premiere last night Marshall made some controversial comments that have made his name a top ten trending topic on Twitter all morning long.
“There are a lot of players out there that believe that white players, specifically at the quarterback position, are treated differently,” Marshall said. (transcript via Complex)
“I think that the important role that I play on this show is to give the viewers [an] inside look of the locker room.”
“I am a player right now. This is not just from our locker room; this is from the locker rooms across the states. This is how guys are feeling. This is not just my opinion. These are conversations I’m having with guys.”
“It’s just not African-American players,” Brandon Marshall continued.
“I’ve had this conversation with Caucasian players as well. The most important part of this whole discussion is the process for the players. They just want the process to be fair and right. They just want to get it right.”
Marshall made this commentary on the heels of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady having his four game suspension overturned. He then gave Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton as an example, saying that if it were Newton who was suspended, the NFL might have taken a different course of action.
“Well, when you look back at the history of this sport, you can build a case on that, yes,” he said.
Yesterday, The Chicago Tribune‘s sister publication RedEye, published an exclusive with the controversial, high profile receiver. At NFL on CBS Media Day this summer Marshall discussed his ground-breaking role with Showtime. Brandon Marshall is the first active player in NFL history to serve in a dual capacity as a national commentator.
Last season had very high expectations in Chicago, but resulted in a 5-11 record. Consequently, fingers were pointed. Marshall, who flew between Chicago and New York City to do the show every week, was one of the many targets. Marshall said he has no regrets over being a contributor to the program.
“Because it’s a national show, that’s never been done before; so when I got the opportunity, I had to jump on it,” he said.
“[Had the Bears finished] 12-4 [and I had gone on to] catch 80 balls [for] 1,000 yards, things I’ve been doing the past eight, nine years, it wouldn’t have been a problem.
“It became a problem obviously when you lose because there’s high expectations on every team in the NFL every single year, and there were high expectations for us and we underperformed.”
At the end of the RedEye exclusive, Brandon Marshall is asked to give his outlook on the current Bears, and about the status of his relationship with Bears QB Jay Cutler. He said that he wouldn’t comment on the current Bears team, and did not give a response to the Cutler question.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 the Zone.
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