Bears upset with Brandon Marshall's lengthy press conferenceTroy Machir @TroyMachir Email RSS
On Thursday afternoon, Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall opened up to reports at a team press conference regarding a variety of subjects, including his past history with domestic violence, ESPN misleading him during the filming of an "E:60" interview, Gloria Allred's recent public relations tactics and Roger Goodell's handling of domestic violence.
As one can imagine, the organization was not thrilled at all that Marshall went at length to voice his opinion regarding a wide variety of sensitive subjects.
A day prior, Marshall took to Twitter to voice his outrage towards ESPN for misleading him during an interview he conducted for a "E:60" story involving his past history with domestic violence. Marshall claimed that the network recently aired an edited version of a 2012 interview that painted him as a the villain and did not tell his side of the story. From the Chicago Tribune:
"ESPN really does know the story. Because they were sent packets with both sides of it. And that’s what is so upsetting. When someone can sit in my living room and look at me and my wife in the eyes and say, 'Listen, this story is about what you’re doing today. The mentorship.' Or this is about your camp, this is about your community weekend. And then they use our story and they sensationalize it to sell magazines or to get better ratings. It’s time that stops.”
ESPN ran the peace on Tuesday just a day before prominent lawyer Gloria Allred held a press conference in Atlanta on behalf of her client, Rasheedah Watley, Marshall's former girlfriend, to vilify Roger Goodell for failing to fully investigate Watley's 2008 claims of domestic violence.
According to Marshall, Watley's camp frequently tried to demand money from him following 2007 accusations, and passed out a packet of information including a letter from Watley to Goodell admitting she was pressured to make up the claims.
In all, it was a bizarre press conference, given both the subject matter and the length. According to CBS Chicago's Cody Westerlund, Marshall's speech cam in at around 4,200 words, none of which were "sorry."
With every word and phrase coming under great scrutiny in recent weeks, it is no surprise that the Bears were upset that Marshall provided over 4,200 of his own.