Brandon Marshall (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)
Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall still can’t believe it sometimes. A little over two years ago he was on the Broncos practice squad under then coach John Fox. He had already been cut multiple times for the Jaguars. He was just trying to make the team.
Marshall just finished his second straight season with 100+ tackles as a starter and key cog on the best defense in the league.
Thursday, he looked back on what got him to this point.
“Now some coaches I ve been around, it s been about who is the starter? Who played last year? We re going to get those guys ready. Who s making the most money,” Marshall said. “But Fox is like okay, Well this guy is putting in the work. He s making plays in practice. Let s give him an opportunity. “
Marshall played nearly the entire 2013 season on the practice squad. He was called up before the final game of the regular season when outside linebacker Von Miller was placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL.
Fox, now the head coach of the Chicago Bears, foreshadowed it all.
“I remember there was a moment and we were playing the Eagles. Coach Fox told me, he said, Look, man. He came to me on the sidelines. I m in a sweat suit. He said, Look, you re going to get your chance. I promise you. Just keep working,'” Marshall said. “I thought that was big because he came up to a practice squad player during the game and told me that. That gave me new life and he cared. They treated the practice squad players as just not like they re on the practice squad. We want a development. We want to develop these guys because they can actually play.
