Are Better Times Ahead For Brandon Marshall?

We heard about it over the weekend. We heard something similar about three years ago.

Brandon Marshall once again made offseason headlines for an injury sustained off the football field.

This time, it was Marshall that was allegedly stabbed in the stomach with a kitchen knife by his wife, Michi Nogami-Marshall. Marshall was released from a Florida hospital Saturday afternoon after treatment for a stab wound that did not penetrate any vital organs. Marshall is expected to make a full recovery.

Arms were thrown in the air when Brandon Marshall was released from the Broncos. How could the team get rid of its leading receiver? How could they get rid of a Pro Bowl receiver after taking Tim Tebow in the first round of the draft? How could we not overlook his off the field behavior to keep the receiver?

Perhaps this was one roster decision that Josh McDaniels got right. Would we be saying that if Brandon Lloyd didn’t shock the league by leading it in receiving yards. Probably not, but hindsight it always 20-20.

Marshall is no doubt productive on the football field. He was the 16th leading receiver in the league last year with 86 receptions for 1,014 yards, sandwiched in between Marques Colston and Jason Witten. He also added 7 touchdowns in his 14 games for the Dolphins last season. His production has dropped off slightly in subsequent years, but he’s still a dominant “Beast” of a receiver.

However, is the risk worth the reward? Ever since Marshall was drafted in the 4th round of the 2006 draft, the receiver’s non-football antics have made coaches and fans alike question his desire to represent his team in the most positive light. The issues that surround him seem to constantly appear in national headlines. Just when we thought the domestic issues quieted down between him and his wife something like this happens that makes us wonder if things will continue to spiral downward for the Pro Bowl receiver.

Every marriage, happy or not, has its problems. It’s perhaps more difficult for a marriage to last between a professional athletes and his/her spouse. The constant travel, attention from adoring fans, and time restrictions could damage anyone’s marriage.

Jeff MacGregor of ESPN.com writes that we need to look at the Marshall’s latest incident with a keen eye for empathy.

"Whatever the truth of Brandon and Michi, and whatever the truth of that sad event, both need our help. They’re people, not caricatures or literary correctives or examples of a failed public policy. They share a great deal in common with every one of us. They deserve our empathy and our sympathy, our patience and our fairness, our forbearance and our most balanced disinterest."

"Most of all they deserve our help.  – Jeff MacGregor (ESPN)"

Sometimes the better comes after the worse in a marriage, and for the Marshall’s, we can only hope the worse is over as they move their separate ways.

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