The New York Jets ended last season with a truly anemic offense, never more so than through the air. Whether it was Geno Smith or Michael Vick quarterbacking made little difference: a receiving corps made up of players like TJ Graham, Saalim Hakim and Chris Owusu meant that either signal-caller would be depending on a pounding ground attack to score points. In a league where success essentially begins and ends with the quality of a quarterback, and the weapons which that quarterback can wield, the Jets were hobbled right from the start.
That changed – dramatically – today.
In a trade first reported earlier this afternoon, the Jets sent a fifth-round pick to the Chicago Bears in change for wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Now, the trade cannot become official until the NFL free-agency period begins on Tuesday at 4 pm. It is conditional on Marshall passing a physical administered by the Jets, which given the nagging injuries that hampered his performance last season, makes that physical something less than a formality.
Nevertheless, replacing Percy Harvin with Marshall, even though Marshall is older, is still an upgrade at that position. Before a fractured rib and punctured lung ended his season, Marshall had accumulated 722 receiving yards, his lowest total since his rookie season in 2006 with the Denver Broncos, when he had 309 yards in the air.
Those numbers deceive, however. A five-time Pro Bowler, Marshall is one of the league’s elite receivers. In seven of his nine seasons, he’s had well over 1,000 receiving yards, playing for teams that were, more often than not, mediocre at best. In 2012, he had 1,508 yards; in 2013, 1,295. Marshall doesn’t accumulate cheap yards, either; his average catch was for a first down’s worth of yardage. Even last year, playing injured, hobbling up and down the gridiron, Marshall’s average yards per reception was 11.8, with his longest catch going for 47 yards. He’s a big, strong receiver who is simply excellent with the ball in possession; his 58 missed tackles over the last four seasons ranks fourth in the NFL.
With 9,771 yards over nine seasons, the 30-year-old Marshall ranks 12th among active NFL receivers. Only Calvin Johnson (29) and Larry Fitzgerald (31) outstrip him in his immediate age bracket; the remaining receivers are all well past 30. Should he have merely an average season – say, 1,200 yards – he’ll move to 10,971, putting him past legendary receivers Lance Alworth, Shannon Sharpe and former Jets great Keyshawn Johnson. His 773 catches rank him ninth among active NFL recievers.
So, why did the Bears let him go so cheaply? Why is Brandon Marshall now on his fourth team – the others being Denver, Miami, and Chicago?
The answer becomes blazingly clear when you realize that the only player with more career receptions than Brandon Marshall to be traded three times is Randy Moss. Like Moss, Marshall has long been tarred with the tell-tale, carry-all accusation of being a ‘distraction’. In a league where, presumably, wearing taupe might be a bold departure from wearing beige, guys like Marshall and Moss aren’t going to get the benefit of the doubt.
That’s a shame, because say what you will about Moss, if Brandon Marshall is a distraction, it is for the best of reasons. If his name rings a bell to casual readers, it is because three years ago, Marshall announced to the world that he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The disorder is characterized by emotional outbursts, and features a pattern of marked impulsivity and instability of affects, interpersonal relationships and self image. BPD can cause intense fears of abandonment and intense anger and irritability; for the person targeted in those outbursts, it can be hellishly difficult to understand why they happen. For the person suffering from BPD, it can wreak havoc in their lives.
Imagine being a regular person, going through the daily grind of life, and having to deal with BPD. Now imagine being Brandon Marshall, playing a sport in which violence is glorified to almost a religious extent; a sport in which anger fuels performance. A sport, and a culture, which celebrates the ability of its players to withstand pain and punishment like Easter Island moas.
By revealing his affliction, and then by tirelessly dedicating himself to comforting those similarly afflicted, Marshall distinguished himself like few NFL players before him. In the year following his diagnosis, Marshall filmed a public service announcement for the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD). His self-named foundation began working to raise awareness around the broader thicket nest of issues surrounding mental health. His work in those areas still continues.
Now in Gotham, Marshall has the biggest possible stage for his yeoman’s work on this issue. His pick-up is the first notable acquisition by Jets head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan, and it’s likely they snapped Marshall up for a song because they know what they get in him: not just a star-quality receiver, but a stellar human being.
For Marshall, Bowles is no stranger; he played under him in Miami in 2010 and 2011. The Jets’ receivers coach, Karl Dorrell, was his positional coach in Miami. With this trade, the Jets now have a Broadway-worthy receiving corps; their two leading men will be Marshall and Eric Decker, with Jeremy Kerley being the third option.
