TYT: Why Was This NFL Player's Endzone Move For Obama Squashed?

[ihavenobias]

Run time: 04:55 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNCXR-Pzw7Y   Posted on YouTube: November 08, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 10, 2008 By DU Member: ihavenobias Views on DU: 1306

 
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[Tempest]

1. If the video is about Marshall, it wasn't squashed

One of Marshall's teammates reminded him there would be a penalty if he pulled anything out of his uniform.

Marshall thought better of it considering he would have been not only penalized, but fined by the team.


League policy prohibits staged routines. There was a crackdown on players hiding objects in their uniforms or on the sideline after Owens pulled the pen out of his sock last season.

[ihavenobias]

3. Well, *he* squashed it himself, largley or partly because of Stokely as explained in the video n/t

[Tempest]

5. Your original post implied it was "squashed" for political reasons

It was squashed because of league policy.

And the fact that it would have given the opposing team a chance to win the game.

[ihavenobias]

7. Don't make a tempest in a teapot here ;)

Seriously, I used the word "squashed" because that was the word used in the youtube title. I wouldn't read too much into it and I don't think it's a big deal.

Hopefully you agree.

:)

PS---Marshall was going to do it (in spite of league policy about celebrations, political or otherwise) until Stokely stopped him. Nothing more, nothing less. The question is, do you think he should have done it anyway? I don't, but maybe some people do.

[CherylK]

8. If he was playing against the Cardinals I would say he should have done it!!!

:evilgrin:

[givemebackmycountry]

2. If a player scores a touchdown and uses a "prop" as a celebration....

It's a automatic 15 yard penalty.
The Broncos had just taken the lead in what had been a tough road game.
There was less than a minute left in the game.
They had lost three games in a row, and they needed this win to stay ahead of San Diego in the AFC West.
If Marshall had pulled this stunt in the end-zone, the Browns would have gotten the ball back with a 15 yard advantage.
Fortunately, Brandon Stokely rushed up to Marshall and stopped the demonstration.

I understand why he wanted to do it, but it would have been a selfish move that could have cost his team the game.
And as a Broncos fan, we don't need to be giving up and easy points.
We do enough of that on our own.

[ihavenobias]

4. Yeah, the Broncos D is pretty bad

Although as a fantasy owner of Royal, I can't complain since that means Cutler has to throw all day.

:)

[givemebackmycountry]

13. I hear you bias, I rolled this weekend.

I had Cutler / Marshall / Scheffler and Royal all starting in my lineup.
Cutler 61 points
Marshall and Scheffler 22 points each.
Royal 49 points.

Final?

Me: 218 points
Opponent? 87 points

[RobertSeattle]

6. I'm one for keeping politics out of sports, religon, the office place, etc...

[OhioChick]

9. K&R

:kick:

[Azlady]

10. K&R

[babylonsister]

11. Here's the Nation's article on this:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081124/zirin

No Obamamania for Brandon Marshall
By Dave Zirin

November 7, 2008


All Brandon Marshall wanted was the opportunity to be part of the moment. The Denver Broncos wide receiver wanted to feel connected to the thousands who have flooded into the streets and the millions in a state of shock and awe around the world, celebrating the election of Barack Obama.

Marshall's plan was to score a touchdown on Thursday night and then take out a black-and-white glove and hold it up to the sky. "I wanted to create that symbol of unity because Obama inspires me, our multi-cultured society," he said after the game, choked with tears. "And I know at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised that black glove in that fist as a silent gesture of black power and liberation. Forty years later, I wanted to make my own statement. I wanted to make my own statement and gesture to represent the progress we made."

Unfortunately, we will never know what would have happened, or how the crowd would have reacted. We will never have that image of a football player bringing politics to the field. Marshall did score a touchdown, but as he removed the glove from his pocket, his teammates stopped him.

snip//

Marshall could have risked the ire of the NFL, known as the No Fun League for cracking down on any hint, any whiff, of individuality on the part of players.

But maybe Marshall thought that the moment was more important than the game. Maybe he looked at basketball players like Kevin Garnett, who had the slogan "Embrace Change Vote '08" written on his sneakers, or Carmelo Anthony, who said that he would score forty-four points Wednesday in honor of the forty-fourth president. Marshall wanted to be part of the energy that has inspired more pro athletes to take part in this election cycle than ever before.

Instead of derision, Marshall merited our respect--sports fan or not-- which should actually be exponentially higher since he was willing to take this risk when the game was on the line. The image of a pro football player raising a black-and-white hand to the skies forty years after Smith and Carlos and two days after the election of a black president in a country built on slavery could have echoed through the ages. Someone should tell the suits and ESPN: some things are actually more important than sports.

[ihavenobias]

12. Thanks for posting this Babylonsister!

:)