Broncos LB Brandon Marshall Says Colin Kaepernick Being Intentionally Blackballed by NFL
Denver Broncos LB Brandon Marshall discusses receiving award from Harvard, losing endorsements, and Colin Kaepernick being blackballed by NFL teams. Marshall chose to kneel during the National Anthem during the 2016 NFL season to show solidarity with his former College teammate Kaepernick.
In early March, when most eyes in the NFL world were fixated on the scouting combine in Indianapolis, Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall stood on a stage inside Harvard’s School of Education in Cambridge, Mass.
His discomfort was evident and his smile too big to miss. The setting was new and there was a part of him that just didn’t understand why — why him?
In the months prior, Marshall’s actions cost him millions of dollars in endorsement money as well as a loss of fan support, and prompted derogatory and hate-filled messages from strangers. His jersey was burned in the parking lot of the Broncos’ facility. His life was threatened in a handwritten letter.
But on this evening, the rhetoric flipped and Marshall was lauded for his actions. Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Alumni of Color selected him as their 2017 Courage Award winner for his silent protests of social injustice, his work and contributions to local charities, and his discussions with the Denver Police Department to encourage changes to its use-of-force policy.
To Marshall, the award was validation.
They took away my endorsements, told me I was disrespectful, told me to leave the country, burned my shirt, and sent hate mail, all in effort to end what God had started. I was never discouraged, I followed my heart, kept going against the grain, eventually sparked change in the Denver community, and today i received the Courage award from Harvard graduate school of education. Thank you @harvard for recognizing my efforts and the efforts of my brother @kaepernick7 “The light always shines through the darkness.” #aocc
“Once I got my award from Harvard, I actually asked them, I said, ‘Why did you choose me instead of (Colin) Kaepernick?’ ” Marshall said Tuesday, the Broncos’ first day of veteran minicamp. “But they said it’s not about who did it first. They said they felt like how you did it, and you lost your endorsements but you kept going, you did things, I guess, in the right way and you helped create change in this community. I got the letter, you know what I’m saying, the racist letter.”
Kaepernick, Marshall’s former college teammate at Nevada and now a quarterback still in search of a job, led a wave of protests that spread across all sports last year. Kaepernick’s protest started in the preseason, when he sat and then kneeled for the playing of the national anthem to protest injustices in the U.S., most notably a string of police brutality cases.
Marshall followed suit and kneeled for the first seven games of the regular season. His decision to stand again was spurred by Denver police’s use-of-force policy revisions, which came on the heels of Marshall’s visit with police chief Robert White.
Marshall, who signed a four-year contract extension last offseason, said it was important to him to follow his protests with action. So he did.
Kaepernick did, too, donating millions of dollars to charities nationwide. But he opted out of his contract at season’s end and now, nearly two months into free agency, is still in search of work. Some argue he’s been “blackballed” by NFL owners because of his protests. Others say football-related factors — including scheme, style of play and contract demands — have all contributed to his unemployment.
“Quarterbacks are usually the face of the franchise. So, he’s probably being blackballed,” Marshall said Tuesday. “Maybe part of it is owners don’t want their franchise tagged with that. But I still stand by what I said (on Twitter), that he’s the best quarterback in free agency. He’s better than all of those that got signed, the Matt Barkleys, the Nick Foleses. I think that’s a fair assessment, honestly.”
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
