Bears WR Brandon Marshall last night made his first appearance on Showtime's "Inside the NFL" and "candidly weighed in" on the NFL's domestic violence issue "from a personal perspective," as he has twice been arrested on domestic violence charges, according to Ed Sherman of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Marshall was acquitted in one case and charges were dropped in the other. When panelist Boomer Esiason asked if the league's new policy "had been in place back then, would it have been a deterrent for Marshall, he replied he 'really didn't see fault in myself' as a young player." Marshall: "I went from being a problem in the locker room to being a guy where not only players, but coaches and executives come to me for advice. How can we change procedures to help these guys?" Showtime Sports Exec VP & GM Stephen Espinoza after the taping of the show said of Marshall, "As we expected, he was willing to take on all topics." Marshall during the show also "attempted to justify the commitment required to spend most of his Tuesday off days flying in and out" of N.Y. to tape the show. He said, "What's more detrimental to a team: a guy that is going out every Friday night, drinking, putting bad things in his body and has a game 36 hours away, or a guy on his day off flies to New York, an hour and a half flight, and talks a little football?" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/3). In Chicago, Dan Wiederer writes Marshall "was everything the network could have asked for in the season’s first episode." Marshall "was engaged, introspective and thought-provoking, bringing his unique voice and perspective to the program’s panel" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/3).
