'I almost had tears in my eyes': Brandon Marshall grateful for shot with Seahawks

RENTON, Wash. – Brandon Marshall is a blunt man.

The 34-year-old wide receiver talked at length after the Seattle Seahawks practiced Thursday at the VMAC about the struggles he’s gone through in recent seasons, capped by the ankle injury that ended his season with the New York Giants in Week 5 last year.

Marshall said he was grateful to be back on the field with the Seahawks after a long, difficult road back to full health.

“Just being able to get out there and feel the grass the way I felt it before, my feet under me, was special,” Marshall said. “Then catching the ball, that’s special. Being able to have a defender in front of you, that’s special.

“I almost had tears in my eyes today being able to go in the huddle and break the huddle, just because of all the work I’ve put in.”

Marhsall’s had a memorable career, both on and off the field. On it, he’s been named to six Pro Bowls and an All-Pro team after being drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Off it, he’s had multiple run-ins with the law, and announced in 2011 that he has borderline personality disorder.

Still, Marshall said rehabbing from last season’s injuries was one of the more difficult things he’s faced.

“I’m not going to lie to you guys – rehabbing can be a real challenging situation,” he said. “This was one of the toughest things I’ve ever been through as an athlete. No. 1, you’ve got the 'I’m aging' part out there, and you’ve got the self-doubt, the self-talk creeping in. Then production slips, you get cut – there’s so much negative stuff happening while you’re laying on a table trying to be able to walk again.

“So yes, it’s very difficult and the only thing that gets you over that hump is actually doing it, and making those plays you made in the past.”

Marshall said he travelled across Europe and the U.S. in an attempt to get back to health. Some of that was to undergo regenokine, the process commonly known as blood-spinning that’s become popular with professional athletes.

After all that, Marshall said he thinks he landed in the right place. He signed a one-year contract with the Seahawks that’s reportedly worth up to $2 million.

“The way the guys, our teammates, approach the game – you don’t always get that,” he said. “Especially in today’s times, where people want the fame and the other stuff that comes with it, but they don’t want to necessarily take the right steps and put in the work beforehand. Everybody wants it now. So respect is one; love is another. The guys love the game. A lot of us started playing this game when we were 6 years old. That same love that you have, it can kind of fade sometimes when you get to the higher rankings. You can make it to the NFL and there’s money and there’s freedom and there’s all these other things. But the purity of the game is still here, even through the coaching staff.”