Marshall Stands Up to

**soulman** · 05-19-2012, 12:03 AM

Inside the Bears

Brandon Marshall goes toe-to-toe with Stephen A. Smith

By Mark Potash on May 18, 2012 8:51 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall surely scored points with a national audience after sparring with hosts Skip Bayless and Stephen Smith on ESPN's ''First Take'' on Thursday. If you had told me one of the three was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Marshall would have been my third choice.

Marshall fought a losing battle with Bayless trying to defend LeBron James after the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player came up short again in crunch time in Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. But he held his own against Smith, who challenged the notion that Marshall's offseason work with Jay Cutler will pay big dividends this season.

''I think we'll have a chance to win the Super Bowl,'' Marshall said, when asked by Bayless how good the Bears can be in 2012. ''It's a quarterback driven league. And I'm putting a lot of it on Jay. Three years ago, Jay was a great quarterback. The thing that separates him from then is his leadership. He led us then. But now it's just amazing.''

Bayless asked Marshall what is different about Cutler.

''It's how he can manage the organization. not just the offense, but the organization,'' Marshall said. ''He holds everyone accountable. He's out there, he's walking through routes, showing me how to run routes, how he wants it. He tells me, 'Get at quarterback, I want you to see what I'm seeing.' (Whoopee we got ourselves the real thing at QB now. He wants to win even if it means showing everyone else how to do it. Now all he needs to do is but Webb behind center while he pass blocks for him an then maybe Webb will get the picture)

''The games are won in the offseason. You don't go out there on Sunday and get it done. You get it done in the offseason.''

That's when an incredulous Smith chimed in.

''Really? You sure?'' he asked Marshall. ''There's plenty of guys working in the offseason that's going to stink up the joint this year. Are you trying to tell me that what you do in April and May -- that's the reason you're going to win in October, November, December? There's plenty of dudes losing that's practicing right now.''

Marshall didn't back down.

''But everybody doesn't have Jay Cutler on their roster,'' he said. ''They don't have a Brandon Marshall. They don't have a Matt Forte. They don't have a Devin Hester. They don't have [a Brian] Urlacher. They don't have a Lance Briggs. I could go on and on and on. They don't have those guys. They don't have a Lovie Smith. (Yeehaw, welcome home Brandon Marshall. Why you been away so long?)

''I stepped into a situation where the team is ready to go. I'm just lucky. That team was ready to win. I'm not saying that I'm the savior. But a guy that can beat one-on-one coverage consistently will definitely open up holes for for a guy like Devin Hester ... Earl Bennett.''

Smith, though, wasn't convinced.

''Tell me you believe in you. Tell me you believe in you,'' he said. ''Don't give me Jay Cutler yet. I believe in you. I don't know about Jay Cutler yet.''

Marshall countered effectively.

''I don't believe in me without a quarterback,'' he said. ''Now that I have Jay Cutler and I'm on that roster, man there's going to be fireworks.'' (Oh I can't wait to see these two together. There is confidence, not cockiness, starting to ooze out of every pore of both of them. Look out Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings, look out Matthew Stafford and Megatron we came to play pass the football too.)

By then, Smith was grasping for straws.

''You've said that everywhere else you were.'' But Marshall was ready for it. ''I've never said that before.''

It was left to Bayless to end the bout.

''Stephen A., you should believe in the numbers these two put up in Denver,'' he told his ESPN brother. ''And they will get better.''

**BigClaws** · 05-19-2012, 12:07 AM

Bear Boner.

**soulman** · 05-19-2012, 12:13 AM

Stephen A. Smith is a first class hose bag. Pretty obvious his entire attack was meant to provoke an angry response from Marshall. LOL, nice try hoser. You lose you f'n

.

Bayless should be keeping a very low profile these days ever since Jalen Rose exposed him on national TV as a poser and a pathological liar as far as his HS BB background was concerned. Bayless claimed he was a star point guard in HS to try to add some credence to his boasts about being a BB expert. Bayless thinks he's an expert in every sport dontcha know.

Well here's the the real truth about Bayless's HS BB career;

Skip Bayless exposed as a liar by Jalen Rose

Jalen Rose calls out Skip Bayless on air for his trumped up high school history (VIDEO) | Ball Don't Lie - Yahoo! Sports
Skip Bayless lied about his prestigious high school basketball career | The Lost Ogle

I love it because Ive always hated that whiny complaining feminine man. All he does is scream in a high pitch voice and slam some of the greatest players of all time. Recently he went on a tirade on Twitter about how he was an All American high school basketball star who started every game as a PG on a team that went to state finals, well now the truth comes out. Bayless played JV his junior year (hahah who does that?) and his only year of Varsity, his senor year he only PLAYED IN 14 out of 22 games and averaged a whopping 1.4 points per game.

His stats are really funny when compared with his teammates.

LOL, he was the worst player on the team. I'm glad he got exposed, I wonder if he will still debate All Stars on technicalities of the game and call future hall of famers childish names.

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Read more: Skip Bayless exposed as a liar by Jalen Rose (star, finals, games) - * - City-Data Forum

**soulman** · 05-19-2012, 12:19 AM

Originally Posted by BigClaws

Bear Boner.

Yeah BC, ain't it though. Talk about two former pouting "bad boys" finally growing up and figuring out how they're gonna "pants" GB and the rest of the NFC to get to a SB. This is some of the best stuff I've heard yet. Jay telling his receivers, "here, get your ass back here and look at what I'm looking at. Now do you know why you're not getting the ball"? That's just too good.

Now if he can just get his Olineman to stand back there and take some shots from Pep, Izzy and the boys maybe he can bring it full circle. Look out because Jay is taking over now. This is his team and things are gonna get done his way. Yahoo!

**BigBadPapaBear** · 05-19-2012, 12:23 AM

Marshall sounds like a pretty "normal" guy.

**soulman** · 05-19-2012, 12:39 AM

And to me too. That's about the way I would have handled it if I was confident in my team and what I was talking about. I don't know much about Smith other than this but he's a worse little bitch than Bayless is. How these guys get jobs is beyond me. Maybe I should consider a career change.