Bless his heart. Brandon Marshall of the Oakland Raiders hopes to see his new team take down his old team in the Denver Broncos in Week 1.
“I daydream about it every day,” Marshall said on NFL Network this week. ”Every day, man. I can’t wait. It’s not going to take me long to see my old teammates, see my old organization, you know, I can’t wait. I think it’s going to be a helluva game. I see us winning. I went back to Denver not too long ago and I told some of those guys that we were going to beat them.”
Since joining the Oakland Raiders as a free agent, as reported in the NBC Sports Bay Area article from Saturday, former Denver Bronco Brandon Marshall spends a portion of each day daydreaming about his former team.
Can you blame him?
After winning Super Bowl 50 as contributor to one of the most dominant defenses the NFL has ever seen, it has to be rough to realize that he’s no longer a part of it. Sure, he’s talked to former teammates and to SOME of them he’s foretasted a Raiders win, but that, of course, leaves the question why he didn’t tell ALL of them. We know why. He knows that as a Raider winning any games in 2019 is going to be a tall order, especially against Vic Fangio’s reinvented and reinvigorated Broncos.
Why focus on Denver?
Let’s be honest, when Marshall looks around that locker room, I’m sure he’s all smiles, but deep down he’s seeing the tire-fire waiting to happen like the rest of us. Let’s start at the top. Mike Mayock, a television personality with zero front office experience and three years of pro ball experience, one with the Toronto Argonauts, turned in what many experts claimed a “Raiders-like draft,” exchanging their bevy of picks for lackluster reaches in the early rounds.
Jon Gruden will enter his second year (of his second term) as Raiders coach. Or you could call it his first year of not giving up on his city, players, and team like he did in 2018. When the going got tough, Gruden called it a season in week 3. It’s much more comfortable to lose a ton of games when he could claim he was doing it on purpose. Getting the team going again after intentionally taking the gas out of it last year isn’t going to be easy or fun to watch for Raider fans.
Marshall has to be got to be excited to see Vontaze Burfict in his new team’s colors. A notoriously dirty player and repeat offender, Burfict’s rap sheet was visually broken down in this article by the USA Today subsidiary website FTW.
Burfict was fined or suspended by the league 13 times during his Bengals career, which spanned from 2012 to 2018. In total, the infractions cost him 10 games and roughly $4.12 million. That’s about $687,169 lost per season.
That’s not even including the $200,000+ he’s paid out in play-specific fines for the various infractions detailed in the article above.
Wait! The Raiders traded for Antonio Brown and all they had to give up was a 3rd and 5th round pick in the 2019 draft! There’s a couple reasons the Steelers let Brown go so easily and one of them is the fact that the Raiders were essentially the only team that could absorb Brown’s contract demands. The other reason is the pain in the butt Brown had become to teammates and coaches, especially in the face of adversity. If the season starts out poorly for the Raiders, David Carr doesn’t get Brown his touches, or if Gruden decides that coaching is again too difficult and decides to pull up stakes on 2019, Brown is going to publicly lose his mind.
Speaking of losing his mind, I have to mention the Raiders latest signing that, I’m sure, excites Marshall the most. According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle article, here:
According to a copy of the arrest report, Employees of Messingers Pinnacle Peak Mortuary told Scottsdale police that the former Pro Bowler said he wanted his father’s head cut off for research purposes and that he walked through the funeral home punching caskets and throwing things.
An employee at the mortuary said in a 911 call obtained by USA TODAY Sports that workers at the business were “very afraid” of Incognito.
”He made a gesture and said he was going to kill somebody here and said he had guns in his truck,” the employee who alerted police to the disturbance told the dispatcher. “We are just very afraid right now.”
This Raiders signing has to make Marshall almost as comfortable as Richie Incognito made those funeral home workers when he demanded, under the threat of violence, his deceased father’s severed head. Like the rest of us, I’m sure Brandon sees this as totally normal and as a signal that Mayock and Gruden have the team’s best interests at heart by bringing a psychologically disturbed and violent lunatic into the locker room. Remember, this isn’t where the crazy ends with Incognito. There’s so much that this is the highlight. It could be and has been it’s own article multiple times is recent years. On what level was signing this guy ever thought to be a good idea? Brandon, I ask you, what could possibly go wrong?
There are plenty of other acquisitions that surely make Marshall nervous, but these are the big ones. As Brandon makes his way through his day and he catches his thoughts drifting to the Monday Night Football opener at Mile High, as Broncos fans, we can’t fault him. If the Raiders don’t win and begin to slide, they’ll have a first time general manager trying to motivate a coach looking for any reason to cash in his chips in week 2, with their star wide receiver throwing everyone under the bus, especially the linebacker who managed to already get himself suspended and fined into oblivion, only to have Incognito mumbling to himself with nobody wanting to find out what’s wrong lest it’s their head he demands “for research”. Frankly, it’s all downhill for Brandon after the Broncos game. When reality is this bleak, why not let him daydream? Bless.
HORSE TRACKS
Mason's Mailbag: A long-term comparison for Phillip Lindsay
Andrew Mason looks at how the career of former Pro Bowl running back Warrick Dunn offers a template that Lindsay could follow.
The Players That Made Me: Kareem Jackson on how Champ Bailey inspired him
Kareem Jackson looks back on the star athletes that he loved to watch and how they shaped who he is.
Former Denver Broncos quarterback and Boise native, Jake Plumer, shares his thoughts on Brett Rypien | ktvb.com
Former Capital High School, Arizona State, and Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer was back in Boise this weekend for his annual Jake Plummer Skills and Thrills Camp. KTVB caught up with the former NFL quarterback to get his thoughts on Denver's newest quarterback, Brett Rypien.
Von Miller happy to see Chris Harris 'get his due' - NFL.com
Von Miller and Chris Harris Jr. have shared the field since their rookie seasons with the Broncos. Thus, it should be of little surprise that Miller was pleased to see Harris get a new deal last week.
Von Miller convenes pass rushers for third annual summit – ProFootballTalk
Broncos linebacker Von Miller is a great pass rusher who likes to help other pass rushers become great. Even if those pass rushers will be chasing his own quarterback. For the third straight year, Miller has convened other defenders for a pass-rushing summit.
Von Miller on Chris Harris: It worked out like it’s supposed to – ProFootballTalk
Linebacker Von Miller said in mid-May that cornerback Chris Harris is the kind of player "you want to take care of" and that's just what the Broncos did last week. Harris did his first offseason work of the year after agreeing to a revised deal for the 2019 season.
C.J. Anderson on Lions: 'I was really wanted here' - NFL.com
After providing the Rams with a late-season punch, C.J. Anderson signed with his fourth team in roughly a year -- the Detroit Lions. And he hopes he's found a home in Motown.
Sitting Pat standing pat: Gronk still retired
Rob Gronkowski said he is happy in retirement and thinks talk of a comeback should be put to rest.
Brian Flores, Trey Flowers to attend as Patriots get their rings – ProFootballTalk
The Patriots are getting their Super Bowl rings this week, and some of the members of last year's team who have moved on this year will attend. Among those who will be there for the private ceremony on Thursday night are Lions defensive end Trey Flowers and Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, accor...
Vic Beasley will attend Falcons minicamp – ProFootballTalk
Falcons defensive end Vic Beasley is one of several key players from the team who has been absent from the team's voluntary offseason workouts, but he confirmed that his absence won't stretch into the mandatory portion of the schedule.
Bruce Arians: Gerald McCoy “just didn’t fit” – ProFootballTalk
The Buccaneers swapped defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and his $13 million salary for defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and his $9.25 million salary. So why did they essentially trade the third pick in the 2010 draft for the second pick in the 2010 draft.
Dolphins' Brian Flores says Josh Rosen is 'improving' in new offense, but still has 'a lot to learn' - CBSSports.com
The former first-round pick is currently battling Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job in Miami
Bruce Arians claims the Buccaneers have 'totally fixed' their secondary that was among NFL's worst last season - CBSSports.com
The new coach in Tampa Bay thinks the Buccaneers are going to be much improved in one key area
Calvin Johnson says Lions need to pay him his money back if they want to mend fences: 'That's the bottom line' - CBSSports.com
Megatron isn't happy about being forced to return at least $1 million to the team when he retired
from Mile High Report - All Posts http://bit.ly/317F13g
No comments:
Post a Comment