benaikey

As reported today on the 6 pm Sportscenter, Broncos WR Brandon Marshall has asked for a trade. What’s the deal here? Does any current Bronco player even want to play for Josh McDaniel? The answer is yes, the ones without egos the size of INVESCO at Mile High. First, crybaby Jay Cutler, who demanded a trade after learning the Broncos had tried to trade him. Now their star wide receiver wants out too. I say good riddance, and here’s why.

Brandon Marshall is a poison. His legal troubles are nearly limitless, but to name a few, being indirectly responsible for the death of teammate Darrent Williams (the gunman had previously had an altercation with Marshall’s cousin), domestic violence (three times at that), driving under the influence, driving without license or insurance, and battery. Can someone please explain to me why this guy isn’t in jail yet? Mike Vick gets busted for fighting dogs once, gets slapped with nearly two years, and this guy beats his girlfriend annually and still isn’t behind bars? Don’t get me wrong, Vick is a pretty lousy human being, but Marshall makes me sick.

Not only does he break the law, he’s a distraction. Remember that touchdown celebration Brandon Stokley had to stop? The one that would have given the Cleveland Browns a chance to score again after the Broncos just took the lead? No good teammate would do that. After you score the go-ahead points, you quietly go back to the sidelines like classy players from the past (namely Barry Sanders) would do. You especially don’t perform a celebration with a prop (Marshall planned to use a white glove) since that counts as unsportsmanlike conduct. A 15 yard penalty during crunch time when your team is trying desperately to make the playoffs just because you want to voice some political opinion? Save it for post-game interviews and let football be about the game, not ulterior motives.

So you get rid of one problem in dealing Jay Cutler, replacing him with the very competent, underrated Kyle Orton. It’s not like 1000 yard wide receivers are a commodity in this league. Eddie Royal was just twenty yards shy of that mark during his rookie year last year, and had just one fewer touchdown than Marshall. Let a good kid step up and take the spotlight, and please, get rid of that troublemaking wide out unless you want another Terrell Owens situation. And to be fair, if you wanted that, you could have signed him when Dallas cut him.

With the addition of Orton, the Broncos need to change focus. He works best in an offense much like Ben Roethlisberger; keep him under 25 attempts, run the ball down your opponents’ throats, and he won’t make any critical mistakes. The Broncos just drafted running back Knowshon Moreno from Georgia in the first round of this year’s draft, so all the pieces are in play. Deal Marshall, use your game managing quarterback with one bright young receiving star, and focus on the two-back running back system. It’s a smart move; if you can pound the ball through defenses like the Panthers or Giants did last year with their two feature backs, what reason do you have to air it out every time? Both those teams won their divisions, and the Giants previously won a Super Bowl with that blueprint. And if you remember correctly, the last time the Broncos were Super Bowl contenders, they had a pretty good running back named Terrell Davis, one of the best quarterbacks we’ve ever seen at managing games in John Elway (though his stats don’t look like that of a game manager), and a star receiver in TE Shannon Sharpe. It worked before, it’ll work again.

So where do you send Marshall? Why, to a team desperate for receiving talent and a total disregard for the character of their players – the Oakland Raiders. Al Davis should be chomping at the bit for this opportunity. He seems to like guys that pose problems, i.e. JaMarcus Russell, who held out of training camp for so long because of a contract dispute he didn’t hardly get to play his rookie year. Maybe Marshall could reunite with former teammate and fellow loudmouth receiver Javon Walker, the other player present when Darrent Williams was shot, and the guy who demanded a trade to get away from that god-awful excuse of a quarterback Brett Favre. Those two were meant for each other. Denver, heed my warning and do the right thing. For your image, for your fans, and for your self-respect.

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