ESPN profiled Bears receiver Brandon Marshall on E:60 today, and it was a complex profile worthy of the complex person Marshall is. But Marshall isn’t happy about the way ESPN went about putting his life on display.
Marshall took to Twitter shortly before the profile aired to say that ESPN and reporter Lisa Salters misled him about what the profile would entail.
“E:60 is running a piece on me tonight that they lied to me about,” Marshall wrote. “It was suppose to be a story on a camp. They followed me around 2 years ago and at the end put a camera in my face to talk about it and asked nothing [about] the camp or the community weekend. I’m disappointed that ESPN and Lisa Salters continue to try and tell my story in ESPN’s words. Better yet I’m pissed off - beyond disappointed. This is the second time ESPN did this. I trust ESPN to tell my story & they lied to me once again to get my interview .Media exploits & tells thier own stories. Disappoints again. Well I guess I probably should use my coping skills now. Thanks ESPN.”
What’s surprising about the profile, given Marshall’s reaction, is that most people who watched it probably came away from it with a more favorable view of Marshall than they had before. The profile delved into Marshall’s history of domestic violence accusations, as any complete profile of Marshall should -- that’s part of his history, part of who he is. But the profile also portrayed Marshall as a man who realized he had a problem, sought mental health treatment, turned his life around and developed a strong and healthy relationship with his wife.
If Ray Rice is the public face of a domestic violence problem in the NFL, then Marshall could be the public face of how a man like Rice could make himself a better man -- through hard work, counseling and time. Marshall may not like the way ESPN reported his story, but it was an important story, well told.