I was watching NFL Network (live at the Pro Bowl) with Fran Charles & Tom Waddle. They just spent a few minutes talking about Miami, followed by a short interview with Marshall. Decent stuff. I can only replay what I remember off the top of my head. They spoke about Philibin's hiring seeming like nothing but a good thing after what he's accomplished in GB. Waddle said he's coming to an offense that has some talent to work with and mentioned Reggie's growing maturity and Brandon of course. However, Waddle wasn't too endorsing of us losing Nolan to Atlanta. (but he didn't mention what affect Kevin Coyle might have). Then they broke to an on-field interview with Brandon and asked him about the team's turn around during the 2nd half, Philibin, and Moore at QB after a decent season. **First I have to say, Brandon is a great guy when he's "Happy Brandon". I've noticed that, if you treat him well & respect him, he'll show tremendous loyalty & respect in return. I've seen him in tons of interviews, but I was still left impressed with how intelligent, well-spoken, and forthright he is.** -He prefaced the Philibin question by first acknowledging Sparano (Brandon has big respect for him), followed by saying he's heard nothing but good things about Philibin. Said that Joe's coming to a high-character team. Light-heartedly mentioned getting back to 100 catches. -Regarding 2nd half success, Brandon first said that [paraphrasing] "coach Sparano would be upset if I weren't honest here". He mentioned the team gelling together. The locker room improvement. I forget what else he said. -Regarding Moore's future as 2012 QB, Brandon wasn't exactly endorsing, saying [paraphrasing] "not to take away anything from Moore b/c he had a good season and helped take the team on his back, but Ross & Co have mentioned looking for a big name guy etc. Said we could improve the QB position. Then said we could always improve every position, including WR. He was asked who we could add at WR, and Brandon enthusiastically said "A young guy!".... but he said he likes the current group of WRs (naming them all) and that [paraphrasing] "we have a young guy that's pretty good too" (Gates). Then Brandon made a 2nd reference to 100 catches. lol. As Brandon walked away, they spoke about how you don't realize how big he really is until you're standing next to him. Mentioned how much of a playmaker he is and advantage for a QB, especially over a 5'10 DB. (Hearing that about Brandon only rekindles my hatred of Henning, that offensive monkey wrench of a coordinator he was. We have a weapon like Marshall and Dan's conservative ways left our QBs being chewed out on the sideline for throwing an occasional jump ball his direction in hopes of giving one of the NFL's premier playmakers a chance to make a big play? **** you Henning. 20 years from now I will still loathe your sorry dinosaur *** for depriving my eyes of offensive enjoyment while running ours into the ground. I hope your funeral procession is executed in reverse to match what you did to our offense.... and may you be buried 99 feet under, 1 foot for every time your play-calling left me either scratching my head or punching myself in the face (see below reference).
Good post TP. one thing that Marshall has suffered from is the complete lack of a QB that can throw a really good fade to him in the endzone. Henne's biggest weakness IMO and one of the reasons we kicked so many FGs
hmm maybe if he played every game like it was the pro bowl, he would have had better stats and we would have had a couple more wins... let's get some character guys in here that want to give it their all all the time. Moore may not be elite but he was decent and if his star WR went out and gave it his all 100% of the time he would have been better. Not impressed.
I base that on his performances and the quotes and actions he is giving. It would seem that he is incapable making a clutch catch in the EZ from a sub elite QB during the regular season but from a group of PB QB's in a meaningless game? He plays lights out. IMO if he had given half the effort in regular season that he did in a meaningless exhibition game then he would have had better stats (possibly 100+ catches) and maybe we would have won a few more games. He started his post game interview by stating he played better because of the caliber of the players he was playing with. I definitely believe he half ***'d many of his games this year and he is clearly stating it is because of the quality of his QB.
I wonder how well BM would have handled it if Henne/Moore went to the media and said something to the effect, "It is tough enough to play QB in the NFL, but when WR's are dropping TD passes...we need to get a true franchise WR to make it easier for me. I don't see Fitzgerald dropping those passes or Johnson and Johnson." That is when we would see BM's true character.
I'm always shocked when a person in the media says they are "surprised how well spoken" a player is. The underlying translation, which is horribly racist when you break it down is, "He speaks well for a black guy."
I'm not hating and I don't want his talent to go away, but I wish he would keep his mouth shut sometimes and step up his effort regardless of who is throwing the ball...again that is just my opinion.
You are a better poster than this. But when it comes to anything Brandon Marshall, you become ignore worthy.
Exactly. You also have the white defensive players that have the "really high motors". Or the white receivers that are just "really smart players." I don't think these guys are being purposefully racist in their assessment of players and I have to admit, I had to stop myself from thinking Cam Newton would be a bust just like Jamarcus Russell because they share a skin color. Our minds sometimes subconsciously make these conclusions and we have to stop ourselves from doing that. I'd think members of the media who make their living in this craft would be so inclined, but apparently not.
