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Brandon Marshall: White NFL players, quarterbacks are treated differently in the league

By Jonathan Bass

Jan 31, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall on the red carpet prior to the NFL Honors award ceremony at Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 31, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall on the red carpet prior to the NFL Honors award ceremony at Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Brandon Marshall believes that there is a difference with how white players, especially quarterbacks, are treated in the NFL.

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New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall appeared on the final preseason edition of Showtime’s Inside the NFL on Tuesday evening. During his panel segment, when talk turned to the inescapable DeflateGate/SpyGate/Patriots/Roger Goodell media saturation, Marshall spun the segment in an unexpected direction by discussing the race card.

In Marshall’s eyes, there is, at times, a discrepancy in how white players are punished compared to their non-white counterparts. The former All-Pro receiver spoke not just on his behalf, but stated that he developed this opinion through conversations with other players scattered throughout NFL locker rooms.

"“There are a lot of players out there that believe that—white players specifically, at the quarterback position—are treated differently.…“I think that the important role that I play on this show is to give the viewers [an] inside look of the locker room. I am a player right now. This is not just from our locker room; this is from the locker rooms across the states. This is how guys are feeling. This is not just my opinion. These are conversations I’m having with guys.”"

When pressed on whether he personally believes that black NFL players are held to a separate set of rules, Marshall replied, “Absolutely. At times, at times, at times, yes.”

Race is a nuanced discussion regardless of the forum, and in the case of Tom Brady and DeflateGate it’s even more intricate than most other conversations regarding the nine-month controversy.

Brady is white. He plays the most regal position in all of team sports. He’s the face not only of his franchise, but arguably the league for the past 15 years (in the annals of history it’ll either be Brady or Peyton Manning as the figurehead of the NFL’s Y2K era). Beyond that, Brady plays for the league’s modern dynasty in New England, which also happens to be one of the nation’s top media markets. If Tom Brady does, in fact, receive special treatment, it’s likely a confluence of factors and not simply his being white.

Circling back to Marshall, it will be interesting to see if this is a theme that he touches on throughout his stint on Inside the NFL. The league and its commissioner own a growing list of uneven punishments, and it’s inevitable there will be more before the season ends.

For the sake of moving the conversation forward, hopefully Tuesday was merely a jumping off point – a thesis statement, if you will. Race is too dense of an issue to be neatly packaged in one quick roundtable segment. Given the national climate and history of Goodell’s authoritarian decisions Marshall will be afforded a larger roadmap through which to strengthen his argument.

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