Here’s to hoping, for his own sake, that someone gave Marshall a copy of Jeff Pearlman’s story for SI.com last week. Do the names Matt Bouza, Terrence Mathis, David Boston, Alvin Harper (nee “Freaky Harp”), or Webster Slaughter ring a bell? You may recognize a few of them, as Pearlman mentions they are all former star receivers that slowly faded into obscurity after going all diva-ish on their respective teams.
Brandon Marshall: Future Cautionary Tale?
Whatever happens, Marshall needs to remember that 1,000-yard wide receivers do grow on trees. For every Jerry Rice and Michael Irvin, men whose legacies lasted and whose fame is unfading, there are 100 other once-upon-a-time “big game players” now grasping onto that last lick of glory by working the card show circuit and attaching their uniform numbers to the end of their e-mail addresses.
It’s a great article, and one that should be saved and reprinted every offseason, when the next above-average receiver tries to hijack his team. I’m all for divas and endzone dances, but really, “disposable” is an adjective that casts a wide net on NFL talent, and only a handful of players are truly good enough to dictate the trajectory of their team’s seasons.
And Marshall, for all the bombast of his trade demands and practice tantrums, isn’t one of them. He’s good, but not that good. Worth remembering.
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