Champ Bailey Discusses Brandon Marshall

As promised, here are some quotes from Champ Bailey‘s interview with Sirius NFL Radio yesterday. This time he talks in detail about Brandon Marshall, and how the receiver’s most recent incident has troubled his teammates.

On whether Brandon Marshall will ever change —

I sure hope so. Who’s to say? I’ve seen guys go through things. You look at Cris Carter and Irving Fryer, what they did through the early parts of their career, and how they turned their lives around and became pretty much Hall of Fame receivers. It’s possible, definitely, but it’s up to him. I sure hope he gets it.

On why Marshall lied about the McDonald’s bag —

Well, I don’t know why he decided to lie. For one, I don’t ever believe the first story I hear anyway. The funny thing is, when something like that happens, if you come out and tell the truth it’s over real quick. But once you tell a lie, obviously the truth comes out in the end. It just drags it on and drags it on. It kills your character. It’s a tough way to learn, but this guy’s still learning and it’s his third year. He better start getting it quick.

On Marshall losing valuable practice time on the field —

Yeah, definitely. He’s still a developing player. It’s not like he’s hit his peak, or his prime yet. So he has a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of things he can do better in his game to make him an even more explosive player. But he’s missing that valuable time with Jay Cutler right now. I’m looking at it, they’re throwing balls now, and he’s not there. I mean, that’s important, and he’s a big part of that. I just hope he understands how valuable he is around here. Hopefully he’ll turn his life around get his things together.

On being a team leader and saying something to Marshall —

As a player, I always worry about the individual first because there’s a lot of things other than football that we have to worry about. So I just want to know where he is personally. I haven’t talked to him yet, I mean, I don’t have his phone number. Hopefully when I do see him I’ll get a chance to talk to him. I know he’s had a lot of people talk to him. I’m sure he’s had a lot of people talk to him after every incident he’s had. At some point, it’s up to him. There’s only so much you can say to a guy. He’s a grown man. He’s got to understand what it takes to grow up and become a man and become a great professional. Until he figures that out for himself he’s going to be the same way.

On what Champ would say when he talks to Marshall —

You can say it over and over, but a guy can always make you think that he gets it. Then when you think he gets it, you’re not going to keep on going over and over to him. And then something else comes up and you’re like, ‘well, I guess he didn’t listen to me that time.’ So you say it again, and then something else comes up. I mean, how much can you say to him? There’s only so much you can do. At some point, he’s gotta get it, and learn the hard way. I worry about my team, but at the same time, he’s a grown man. He’s going to have bigger problems than just worrying about football if he keeps going down the track he’s going.

On Cutler’s comments being a ‘big thing’ and earning the team’s respect —

I think it was. I didn’t hear about it until late (Tuesday). Yeah, it was definitely a big deal. I expect that from him. You don’t see a lot of guys trying to pump a guy up in some kind of way and trying to keep it real as far as exactly what’s happening, you know, what’s going to happen if he keeps going down that road. Jay put his foot out there and did what he’s supposed to do. He’s gotta get this guy on the field, and (Marshall) can’t help him if he’s not out there. You gotta do everything you can to make us winners around here.

So that was a mouthful. You can really hear the frustration when Champ talks about it, too.

Do you like that Champ is joining Cutty in calling out Marshall? Part of me wishes the whole thing would just go away… We know Marshall has a big mouth. When do we reach the point where we ‘set him off’ and he starts demanding trades and threatening hold outs? Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but it’s a slippery slope when you start talking openly about your teammates to the media in any negative fashion.