On Sunday, Hanzus pointed you in the direction of a compelling piece about Chicago Bears wideout Brandon Marshall. The Chicago Tribune spent four days with him in Florida, and yet we left the article with more questions about the receiver.
Perhaps the most telling aspects of the piece were not related to Marshall's personality, but to his football history. Three points stuck out.
1. Former Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach (and current Bears quarterbacks coach) Jeremy Bates let Marshall and Jay Cutler freelance.
"(Bates) wouldn't even give us a play. We'll just go out there with no play, and Jay would give me a signal, I would give Jay a signal," Marshall said. "We just had that feel for the game where we'll come out with a game plan -- like, OK, 'They want to do this, we want to do this. This is our counter to that. This is our plan A, B and C.'"
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We suspect Bates' version of this story would be slightly different. But there's no denying Cutler and Marshall had an excellent chemistry, and it doesn't hurt that they know how to improvise.
2. Marshall says he's never had a good receivers coach in the pros.
"To be honest, (when I arrived in Miami) I was like, 'You know, I need some coaching. Right now, I'm coming off my natural ability.' ... I haven't had a good coach, as far as that receiving position, since I've been in the NFL. As far as technique and someone who understands the game, the last time I had a good receiving coach was DJ McCarthy in college."
3. Don't try to tell Marshall that Cris Carter is his mentor.
"I really never built a relationship with him," Marshall said. "The reason why I may sound a little defensive right now is because there's stories out there as far as him being my mentor or someone I go to, but that's not true, basically."
