Former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall reveals that the New York Jets were his all-time favorite team to play for.
Five years ago seems like a lifetime ago. It marked a time pre-President Donald Trump, which is always interesting to ponder. But more importantly (for this platform, at least), it was the last time the New York Jets won double-digit games in a season.
Wide receiver Brandon Marshall was a huge part of the 2015 team’s success under Todd Bowles. And while he enjoyed three tremendous seasons in Denver (four total) to start his career, Marshall revealed that the Jets were his “all-time favorite” team to play for.
“It was, bro,” Marshall said when referencing the Jets as his all-time favorite team while specifically referencing the 2015 season. “Oh my goodness. Fitzmagic. He made it fun. You’ve got to think about … there was no expectation. Everybody thought we were gonna suck, and that was a magical year. Just being with the guys and how we won games.”
Marshall revealed that personal nugget on Wednesday while on the Radio.com podcast “Board Room: Out of Office.”
Marshall’s current gig is as a media member, most notably as one of five personalities on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL.” He walked away from the game at the age of 34 after back-to-back disappointing seasons with the New York Giants.
In 2015, Marshall put up a career-high 14 touchdowns, 1,502 receiving yards (second-best) and 109 receptions (second-best). He also played two seasons in Miami with the Dolphins and another three with the Chicago Bears prior to the Mike Maccagnan-engineered trade that brought him to New Jersey.
For whatever reason, Marshall and Ryan Fitzpatrick just clicked. Fitzpatrick’s 31 touchdown passes in 2015 represent the franchise’s all-time single-season top mark.
Not dishing out the dough to the tough-as-nails Harvard grad was one of the reasons Marshall cited as that team’s eventual downfall.
“It was myself, Eric Decker, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bilal Powell and Matt Forte, and again, [the] offense was just tremendous,” Marshall said. “I’ll have 100 yards receiving, 10 touches, a (touchdown). Eric Decker had the same, Matt Forte would go over 100. Nobody could touch us.
“And, of course, the Jets got in the way. They didn’t want to give Ryan Fitzpatrick the bag. I’m like, he’s the best quarterback that this franchise has had in 15 years, 20 years. Give the man $12 million. The top quarterbacks are more $24 million. What he just did for us, you’re going to break this up? And that ruined everything. I thought we would be able to come back and contend, but we all imploded.”
The 2016 Jets didn’t exactly back-up their 10-win campaign the year prior. They finished a disappointing 5-11 and Marshall caught just three touchdowns and compiled 788 receiving yards in 15 games.
If you thought the 2012 season that saw him earn first-team All-Pro honors in Chicago would have forced him to choose the Bears, think again. According to the man himself, the New York Jets were his “all-time favorite” team to play for.
