Aug 31 2009
Drama for the Broncos Continues: Brandon Marshall
How much worse are things going to get in Denver? Today, Broncos Coach Josh McDaniels suspended receiver Brandon Marshall for insubordination. The length of the suspension was not announced, but it is believed he will miss the rest of the preseason.
Marshall has been unhappy for months because of the team’s unwillingness to rework his current contract and he has asked for a trade. But earlier this week, a video surfaced of Marshall behaving petulantly during a portion of practice that was open to the news media. He walked when the rest of the team was jogging during warm-ups. He swatted away a pass that was thrown to him. And he was shown punting a ball away, instead of handing it to the ball boy as he was instructed to do.
Marshall had already been held out of a preseason game after he admitted he didn’t know the playbook.
Marshall is hoping to be traded, and a video that underscores his petulance doesn’t do much for his market value. He went into damage control mode late Thursday night. In an interview with ESPN, he acknowledged his behavior — particularly the punt — was an error in judgment and the result of frustration. He also said he was not trying to force his way out of town with his churlishness.
“I think everybody knows there’s a lot of stuff built up there, and me handling it that way wasn’t good,” Marshall told ESPN.
Perhaps Marshall was trying to take a page from his former teammate Jay Cutler. Cutler was angry when McDaniels expressed interest in acquiring Matt Cassel. After Cassel went to Kansas City and the Broncos insisted Cutler was their quarterback, Cutler refused to return phone calls from the team, including from the owner Pat Bowlen. He was finally traded to the Bears. This week, Cutler praised McDaniels. The Bears play the Broncos on Sunday.
It’s been a messy start for McDaniels, who was hired by Bowlen to replace Mike Shanahan but who has found himself dealing with constant off-field player issues.
