Lonestar
06-03-2009, 05:08 PM
by Dave Krieger Denver Post Columnist , The Denver Post
Once more, Brandon Marshall promises that his problems are behind him. A bunch of at-risk kids in northeast Denver hopes it's true.
"The relationship he has established with so many of my kids, he's still their hero," the Rev. Leon Kelly said Tuesday.
Judging Marshall's various domestic disputes by long distance is hazardous business. ESPN's "Outside the Lines" tried over the weekend and ended up with an indecipherable she-said-
he-said that felt more like voyeurism than investigation.
When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decided not to suspend him for the latest incident, in which no one was hurt and all charges were dropped within 24 hours, he gave Marshall yet another chance to start over.
"I understand that there can't be any more hiccups from me," Marshall told Fox 31's Josina Anderson. "With that said, I guarantee - repeat, I guarantee - there won't be any more from this day forward."
Promises are easy. Marshall has made them before. Following through is hard. That's why his work with Kelly's Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives after-school program last season demonstrated more than the verbiage that comes so easily to Marshall. Not only did he visit Kelly's kids, he hosted dozens at Broncos home games.
"All these players are role models, whether they want to be or not," Kelly said. "We could go back to what Charles Barkley said. He didn't ask to be nobody's role model. Their mommies and daddies should be. True that. True that.
"But unfortunately, the way things are, there are thousands and thousands of kids that want to be like you because of what you are doing out on the field. And there are so many of these kids who don't have a mom and dad that they can look up to. So we have to fill those voids."
This can be quite a burden for athletes who are basically still kids themselves, but Marshall, taking a lead from former teammate Jay Cutler, dived in last year. His weekly visits to Kelly's after-school program at Wyatt-Edison Charter School lent a cachet to the gang prevention message that rivaled even that of the gangsters.
The Broncos reached out to Kelly's program after the gang-related murder of cornerback Darrent Williams 2 1/2 years ago. The club pledged $50,000 - $10,000 a year for five years - and Cutler made Open Door a primary beneficiary of his foundation.
But the change in regimes at Dove Valley has cut off much of the interaction so far. Trading Cutler removed a high-profile supporter, although Cutler's foundation still cut a check for $10,000 to fund Open Door's summer session for the second year in a row.
Marshall donated his time, hanging out with the kids for a couple of hours most Tuesdays, the Broncos' off day during the season. But he hasn't been around town much since last winter. He has had differences with the Broncos over his medical treatment and his contract.
Frankly, I'm not sure what to expect of Marshall's relationship with Josh McDaniels, the new Broncos coach. If Cutler struck McDaniels as temperamental, Marshall might strike him as a full-fledged diva. Nor is there any way to know how the request for a new contract might affect their relationship.
But if Marshall is intent on proving he gets it, the kids at Wyatt-Edison will be waiting.
"One of my challenges is just trying to be a buffer to some of these kids who are saying: 'Man, where are they? They forget about me?"' Kelly said. "I'm hoping and praying that once everything gets together we'll get back on schedule."
We know that Marshall is a richly talented Football player. We also know he has had a turbulent personal life. We know - and more important, he seems to know - that he has run out of second chances on the latter score. He can grow up or he can waste his prodigious athletic talent.
Someone else will wear Darrent Williams' number for the Broncos this season. There was another fatal shooting the other night, just five blocks south of Wyatt-Edison. Time marches on.
For the moment, Marshall is about the only remaining link between the Broncos and the gang-prevention program they embraced in the wake of Williams' death. If he means what he says, that's as good a place as any to start.
Dave Krieger
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9642170/Star's-status-does-affect-at-risk-kids-
Once more, Brandon Marshall promises that his problems are behind him. A bunch of at-risk kids in northeast Denver hopes it's true.
"The relationship he has established with so many of my kids, he's still their hero," the Rev. Leon Kelly said Tuesday.
Judging Marshall's various domestic disputes by long distance is hazardous business. ESPN's "Outside the Lines" tried over the weekend and ended up with an indecipherable she-said-
he-said that felt more like voyeurism than investigation.
When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decided not to suspend him for the latest incident, in which no one was hurt and all charges were dropped within 24 hours, he gave Marshall yet another chance to start over.
"I understand that there can't be any more hiccups from me," Marshall told Fox 31's Josina Anderson. "With that said, I guarantee - repeat, I guarantee - there won't be any more from this day forward."
Promises are easy. Marshall has made them before. Following through is hard. That's why his work with Kelly's Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives after-school program last season demonstrated more than the verbiage that comes so easily to Marshall. Not only did he visit Kelly's kids, he hosted dozens at Broncos home games.
"All these players are role models, whether they want to be or not," Kelly said. "We could go back to what Charles Barkley said. He didn't ask to be nobody's role model. Their mommies and daddies should be. True that. True that.
"But unfortunately, the way things are, there are thousands and thousands of kids that want to be like you because of what you are doing out on the field. And there are so many of these kids who don't have a mom and dad that they can look up to. So we have to fill those voids."
This can be quite a burden for athletes who are basically still kids themselves, but Marshall, taking a lead from former teammate Jay Cutler, dived in last year. His weekly visits to Kelly's after-school program at Wyatt-Edison Charter School lent a cachet to the gang prevention message that rivaled even that of the gangsters.
The Broncos reached out to Kelly's program after the gang-related murder of cornerback Darrent Williams 2 1/2 years ago. The club pledged $50,000 - $10,000 a year for five years - and Cutler made Open Door a primary beneficiary of his foundation.
But the change in regimes at Dove Valley has cut off much of the interaction so far. Trading Cutler removed a high-profile supporter, although Cutler's foundation still cut a check for $10,000 to fund Open Door's summer session for the second year in a row.
Marshall donated his time, hanging out with the kids for a couple of hours most Tuesdays, the Broncos' off day during the season. But he hasn't been around town much since last winter. He has had differences with the Broncos over his medical treatment and his contract.
Frankly, I'm not sure what to expect of Marshall's relationship with Josh McDaniels, the new Broncos coach. If Cutler struck McDaniels as temperamental, Marshall might strike him as a full-fledged diva. Nor is there any way to know how the request for a new contract might affect their relationship.
But if Marshall is intent on proving he gets it, the kids at Wyatt-Edison will be waiting.
"One of my challenges is just trying to be a buffer to some of these kids who are saying: 'Man, where are they? They forget about me?"' Kelly said. "I'm hoping and praying that once everything gets together we'll get back on schedule."
We know that Marshall is a richly talented Football player. We also know he has had a turbulent personal life. We know - and more important, he seems to know - that he has run out of second chances on the latter score. He can grow up or he can waste his prodigious athletic talent.
Someone else will wear Darrent Williams' number for the Broncos this season. There was another fatal shooting the other night, just five blocks south of Wyatt-Edison. Time marches on.
For the moment, Marshall is about the only remaining link between the Broncos and the gang-prevention program they embraced in the wake of Williams' death. If he means what he says, that's as good a place as any to start.
Dave Krieger
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9642170/Star's-status-does-affect-at-risk-kids-