5 Things To Know About Broncos Linebacker Brandon Marshall
DENVER (CBS4) - Coming out of college, Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall was anything but a sure-fire prospect. After spending five years at the University of Nevada he was the 142nd overall pick in the 2012 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But there he was last week, agreeing to a four-year, multi-million-dollar contract with the Broncos.
Marshall's road to the NFL was anything but easy. The following are five things to know about Marshall (and for those who still get confused, we're not talking about the former Broncos wide receiver):
He overcame numerous family struggles.
When Marshall was 10 his mother took him and his brother to a shelter in hopes of keeping them away from their abusive father.
"We had a bad situation with him. When we tried to run from him -- breaking in the house -- we ended up having to stay in the shelter a while ... he eventually turned himself in," Marshall told CBS4.
Marshall credits those tough times and his love for football for helping him earn a scholarship to Nevada.
Soul searching helped keep him positive.
After getting drafted by Jacksonville, his time with the Jaguars was full of ups and downs. After being cut for a second time his career was apparently heading south, so he went for a drive hoping to clear his mind.
"I just hopped on I-95 South and just started driving. (I thought) 'I don't know where I'm going to go, I've just got some soul searching to do.' I'm driving, I get to St. Augustine, I make up my mind at that point -- I said, 'You know what? I'm going to keep fighting, I'm going to keep working, I believe in me.' And I said, 'If I'm going out, I'm going to go out on my terms.'"
His mother is his inspiration.
A year ago Marshall got his mom Barbara a new car for mother's day.
"She works so hard, I saw her work so hard growing up, working two jobs to put food on the table for me and my brother ... and just doing everything by herself, so she's my inspiration," Marshall said.
Marshall found the perfect fit in Denver.
Marshall's NFL career dreams remained alive when he was signed to the Broncos practice squad in 2013. After Von Miller was hurt and placed on injured reserve in December of that year, Marshall was promoted to the Broncos active roster. The next season he made the starting lineup after Danny Trevathan got hurt. The following season he started all 16 games and finished second on the team in tackles.
"I could have got cut and then never got picked up, or could have went to another bad team or another team that wasn't winning, but I came to a stable organization that ended up liking how I played," Marshall said.
The Broncos believe in Marshall's ability.
Broncos president John Elway said Marshall has just "scratched the surface of what he can do as a linebacker" after the team signed him to his $32 million deal.
"We're thrilled that we're able to agree on a new contract and really have big expectations for him," Elway said.
Over the last two seasons, Marshall leads the team in tackles.
