Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall was arrested in Atlanta on Sunday on a disorderly conduct charge stemming from a fight. His latest run-in with the law could result in a lengthy suspension from the NFL.
Marshall arrived at the jail at 5:50 a.m. on a disorderly conduct charge and was released five hours later after posting $300 bond, said Lt. Joseph, the supervisor at the Atlanta City Jail who declined to give his first name.
Joseph told The Associated Press that Marshall was due in court at 8 a.m. Monday, but he had no other details on his arrest.
ESPN first reported Marshall’s latest arrest, his fourth since March 2006.
He was suspended for three games last season for repeatedly running afoul of the law — Marshall’s suspension stemmed from seven police-related incidents with his former girlfriend, Rasheedah Wately. But he had his punishment reduced to a single game when he pledged to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that he would stay out of trouble.
Marshall, 24, now potentially faces a longer suspension to start the 2009 season, perhaps as much as eight games, which is the punishment other players have received for repeatedly getting into trouble off the field.
The league doesn’t require convictions for the commissioner to suspend a player.
Team spokesman Patrick Smyth said the Broncos were aware of reports of Marshall’s arrest but had no comment, and Marshall’s Denver-based lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, also declined comment in a text to The AP.
His agent, Kennard McGwire, didn’t immediately return an e-mail. Calls and e-mails also were sent after hours to Broncos general manager Brian Xanders and league spokesman Greg Aiello.
It was a March 6, 2008, arrest on a domestic violence warrant filed by his former girlfriend in Atlanta that led Goodell to summon Marshall to his New York offices last summer to explain his series of misdeeds. At that time, Marshall also faced a drunken driving trial that didn’t fall under the league’s personal conduct policy that would allow for suspension.
After sitting out the opener last season, Marshall returned from his suspension insisting he had turned round his life. He began making weekly visits to the Darrent Williams Teen Center on his days off to help inner city youths, something he said kept him grounded and fed his desire to stay off the police blotter.
Marshall said at the Pro Bowl last month he was ready to settle down and he proposed to his fiance, Michi Nogami, while in Hawaii for the all-star game. Broncos fans hoped this was another sign of Marshall maturing.
Marshall caught 104 passes for 1,265 yards and six TDs last season. But he dropped 18 on-target passes, something he blamed on the nerve damage in his right arm, which he put through a television set while horsing around with his brother in the offseason.
In three NFL seasons, Marshall has caught 226 passes for 2,899 yards and 15 touchdowns, although he’s fumbled eight times, losing four.
Marshall is expected to seek a monster contract this year befitting his immense talents and reflecting his back-to-back 100-catch seasons.
His arrest came the same weekend another one of the team’s leaders found himself in the news. Quarterback Jay Cutler, a fellow 2006 draft pick who also made his first trip to the Pro Bowl last month, is angry he was the subject of trade talks for Matt Cassel and has suggested his relationship with new coach Josh McDaniels has been strained.
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