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The drama continues, but it’s not the Jets’ issue anymore. It’s for another organization to deal with at this point . . .
With Brandon Marshall, it’s like having a receiver/reality show all in one.
Today at Johnny Damon’s charity golf tournament at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Marshall made national news.
No, he didn’t get a hole in one.
Before the tournament began, he appeared on a Boston sports talk show – “Kirk and Callahan.” The hosts were doing a remote broadcast from the event and had Marshall on as a guest.
And a few minutes into the interview, things went off the rails.
The hosts dug up a quote from a couple of years ago in relation to how the NFL doles out punishment. The comments came out around the time “Deflategate” was the hot-topic. Obviously that scandal centered around New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the inflation of footballs.
“There are a lot of players out there that believe that–white players specifically, at the quarterback position–are treated differently,” Marshall said in September, 2015 on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL.”
He went on to say that he believes black players are “absolutely” held to a different standard at times.
This comment came after Brady’s four-game suspension was overturned by a judge (not the NFL). As we all know, eventually Brady’s suspension was re-instated.
The WEEI hosts decided to dig into this. Here is the exchange . . .
Kirk Minihane: You said there was a different standard, that black athletes were held to a different standard.
Brandon Marshall: I’m not going to get into the race card with you guys. If that is what you want to do, you can do there, but black guys in America get treated differently, period, so I will just say that.
Gerry Callahan – But you have to admit Brady was treated very seriously (four-game suspension in 2016).
Marshall: Black guys in America get treated differently.
Kirk Minhane: But do you think professional athletes get treated differently when they hand suspensions they look to see if this guy is black and this guy is white.
Marshall: (Turning to a publicist): We done with this interview – can I get off this interview? All right. I’m done guys.
Minihane: That is it? Are you sure?
Marshall: I’m positive.
Marshall got up, and spilled his coffee in the direction of the hosts computers. Some think he did it on purpose. I saw the video, and it’s hard to tell.
As Marshall walked away, he called the hosts “scumbags” under his breath.
Marshall is a heck of a talent, but the Jets are better off not having to deal with this kind of drama anymore. After last year, the Jets need a drama-free clubhouse, or as close as you can get in this market.
I watched the interview several times.
And I don’t want to get into race relations in America in this space. People read sports to get away from that stuff.
But I want to talk about what he said about NFL discipline.
Here is my issue with Marshall. When you claim the NFL doles out different punishments based on color, you need to be able to provide evidence.
To me, it’s irresponsible to say something like that, and have no anecdotal evidence to back it up.
The NFL discipline system is far from perfect. We all know that.
But I’ve been covering the NFL for 20 years, and I’ve seen no evidence that the NFL makes discipline decisions based on color.
And if Marshall believes that, he should at least have some evidence.
July 13, 2017
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