Remote Controller
Well-Known Member
10 foot pole ain't long enough for me this year.
- -- Brandon Marshall Moves Rehab from Colorado to Orlando --
Fri May 29, 2009 --from FFMastermind.com - The Denver Post reports Broncos WR Brandon Marshall (hip surgery) is an unofficial holdout. The Broncos' star receiver is hoping to force the team to restructure his contract by moving his rehabilitation away from its Dove Valley headquarters this week while the rest of team is practicing at passing camp. Marshall delivered his request for a raise last week to Broncos HC Josh McDaniels. Given the uncertain future created by Marshall's off-field legal and injury issues, the Broncos are not willing to redo his deal. "Brandon is not a holdout," Marshall's attorney Harvey Steinberg said. "He went back to Orlando so he could continue rehabbing from his surgery." Although Marshall is unable to participate as he recovers from hip surgery, the team's other injured players show up at the facility each day to rehab. Technically, the passing camp is voluntary. Only the June 12-14 minicamp is considered mandatory. A protest by another name, however, is a protest and Marshall has made it clear he believes he's underpaid. In the final season of the four-year contract he received as a fourth-round draft choice rookie, Marshall already hit substantial incentives that raised his 2009 salary from $535,000 to $2.2 million. In Marshall's defense, his salary request is affordable for a receiver who averaged 103 catches and 1,295 receiving yards the past two years. WR Larry Fitzgerald averages $10 million a year, WR Randy Moss $9 million, WR Andre Johnson has an eight-year deal at $7.5 million per and WR Anquan Boldin is holding out in Arizona trying to get a deal worth at least $9 million per. Even if Marshall is another big season away from gaining inclusion in the elite receiver group, he believes he is considered close enough to the neighborhood to seek greater compensation. The timing of Marshall's contract request, however, is peculiar given so many other issues that could negatively affect his immediate future. Begin with the arthroscopic hip surgery March 31. Although Marshall started running last week and is expected to be fully healthy by training camp, an injured hip can be a delicate injury for a receiver. There also is the matter of Marshall's ongoing legal trouble that could draw a second NFL suspension in two years. ESPN's "Outside The Lines" will air a story Sunday that rehashes Marshall's past troubles with former girlfriend Rasheeda Watley. The Broncos and Marshall did not cooperate with ESPN, saying it was a year-old story. What's new about the "OTL" report is Watley grants her first interview since the incidents. "This comes on the heels of his engagement to another woman," Steinberg said. "We advised ESPN that we had considerable documentation as proof that refutes the allegations. We were told we would have the opportunity to present those live, on camera, and they reneged on their offer." Marshall has been involved in 13 police-related transgressions since Oct. 31, 2004, when he was arrested on a variety of charges during his junior year at Central Florida, until March 1, when he was arrested on disorderly conduct after an argument with his fiancee Michi Nogami, who also was charged. Charges against both Marshall and Nogami were dismissed the next day. "OTL" focuses on the domestic violence incidents involving Marshall and Watley. In the story, Watley said she is going forward with charges against Marshall on misdemeanor battery from a March 6, 2008, arrest in Atlanta because, "I feel like somebody has to stand up and stop him from doing this because the Broncos haven't done it, the NFL hasn't done it, the Atlanta police department hasn't done it." The repeated incidents with Watley led NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Marshall for one game and fine him for two games last season. As for Marshall's most recent incident involving Nogami, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said by text the matter is "still under investigation."
