The Seattle Seahawks know well the dyspeptic NFL saga of Brandon Marshall — splendidly talented wide receiver for 12 years, 23rd on the all-time list for receiving yards, who ends up being a pain in the butt to teammates, coaches and cops.
So before the Seahawks became his fifth team, according to Marshall Wednesday after practice at team headquarters, “They did their due diligence, to say the least. They broke down everything since I’ve been in the league. We had some great, transparent, challenging conversations. I (was given) some tough questions.
“The screening process they take you through is worse than the TSA line.”
Given the Seahawks’ experiences with Percy Harvin and Malik McDowell, along with unusual characters such as Marshawn Lynch and Jimmy Graham, as well as the poor drafts of 2013-16, the Seahawks better have refined their examination tools to the sub-atomic level.
Since the apparent plan does not call for 2018 to be a drop-off year, the Seahawks can’t indulge more personnel whiffs.
Then again, Marshall is 34 and the club is not betting grandma’s savings on him turning 24. He’s on a one-year deal with small guarantees. If he screws up, the Seahawks are the last-chance saloon and the bartender, head coach Pete Carroll, has a little edge to him lately.
“It could mean a lot; it depends on how it works out,” Carroll said. “I’m not asking him to come in here and be a spokesperson. I’ve told him I just want him to come in here and compete and show them how much he cares about playing this game.”
While Marshall remains large (6-foot-5 and 232 pounds) and experienced, he is coming off left ankle surgery that ended his season after five games with the New York Giants last year, and is candid about where he is in the marketplace.
“I didn’t have a lot of offers,” he said, smiling. “I think the sentiment around the league is I’m done. I get it, rightfully so. When you get on the other side of 30, your production slips and you have a big injury, people just count you out.”
Marshall also gets extra credit for an honest answer when it comes to his physical health for the NFL rigors.
“I feel good — I don’t feel great,” he said. “I got a lot of catching up to do to get into football shape. I’m not where I want to be, not even close. My goal is to be in midseason form by camp” starting in late July.
Marshall then won the Candor-Gram Trophy for his willingness to discuss publicly the mental health issues that have been with him throughout his life, including four years with Denver, two with Miami, three with Chicago, two with the New York Jets and last season with the Giants. The problems were a source of numerous encounters with law enforcement and his teams, including a one-game suspension in 2009 by the NFL for an episode of domestic violence.
Addressing the annual meeting of NFL owners in March 2017, Marshall left the room spellbound with the story of his life before and after a 2011 diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.
“You could’ve heard a pin drop in the room,” Giants owner John Mara told USA Today. “The way Brandon was so frank and direct about his mental health issues in his life resonated with everyone in the room. He immediately helped humanize players more, which helped articulate that this business is about more than football or making money.”
In his first Seattle interview Wednesday, Marshall, who has been a strong advocate for mental-health help for young athletes, was open about his three-month outpatient treatment in 2011 at McLean Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Belmont, Mass., affiliated with Harvard University.
“I couldn’t believe there were doctors and treatments out there that could make that big of a difference that quickly,” he said. “Everyone’s case is different, but I was in awe of the fact that (before treatment), I sat on my couch for a month with a hoodie on, couldn’t talk, wouldn’t talk, dealing with depression.
“A month and a half later, I’m at a hockey game watching the Bruins. I’m at baseball games eating hot dogs, having a beer — not a big beer drinker, but I tried it — high-fiving people I don’t know, sitting in coffee shops having conversations with strangers. That was a most amazing thing to me.”
Marshall’s willingness to be honest about his travails and diligent in his recovery struck a chord with Carroll.
“He is a tremendous young man,” he said. “He has learned from those lessons and he has shared it with the world. I think that’s probably part of the process for him that’s made him strong. I admire the heck out of that.
“We get him as he is now. I’m not really concerned about what has happened in the past at this time, because he has worked his way through it and been very open.”
Not long after he was hired by the Seahawks in 2010, Carroll pursued Marshall in free agency. He plotted to fly him via float plane to the team’s headquarters along the Renton shore of Lake Washington.
“I think we flew him into the dock, or something silly like that,” Carroll said. “It was crazy; we never did it again. But we went all out and it didn’t work out.
“We’ve had our eye on him for a long time, because of his style of play. He’s very aggressive. He can be the big receiver in the offense.”
The Seahawks have 11 receivers on the 90-man roster for OTAs (organized team activities), all of whom are younger and faster and bring less baggage.
But Marshall seems to know a bit about a hard road.
“At this point in my career,” he said, “I’m focused on going out the right way.”
Eight years delayed, Marshall, properly screened, walks through the front door, as anyone else. The last chance to go out right rests with him.
Art Thiel is co-founder of Sportspress Northwest.
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