Michael Lombardi of National Football Post started a bit of a firestorm this morning with the following, seemingly harmless comment, in his Sunday Diner column -
I keep hearing from my Jets sources that they’re having internal discussions regarding Brandon Marshall and would love to put together a package of players that might entice the Broncos and still keep their first-round pick.
That was it. No rumors, no innuendo. Just a simple 2 line statement of fact, so to speak. I guess it goes without saying that several teams are likely having 'internal conversations' about Marshall and several other players. That's what happens this time of year.
Still, just the fact that the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets were linked to Marshall again had the blogosphere - as well as Twitter-Land - a buzz. Soon, those harmless 'internal discussions' had become full-fledged trade talks between the Broncos and Jets. Remember the grapevine game?
After watching the reaction of Jets fans, I'd have to say that a large majority of comments and 'tweets I have seen have been Anti-Marshall, including from those in SBNation's Gang Green Nation, who had these scathing words -
Talent is unquestionable, but I'm being completely honest here when I say that I would find it almost impossible to root for an (alleged) women beater several times over, assault on a police officer, being the intended target in a murder case, drawing a gun on his own father, driving under the influence, all of which can be found here
You want to purge a locker room of a leader like Thomas Jones, and then add a walking epitome of a despicable human being, to work with a young team of budding stars.... I don't care if he comes gift wrapped with a bow on his head, their are cases of people who have made a mistake and can be rehabilitated, like the Braylon Edwards incident, and to some degree the Antonio Cromartie, even though the only mistake he made was not paying his child maintenance. Then there are cases where the guy is just plain scum, and that's what we have here.
Wow. This is harsh, but as Wyatt mentions, Jets fans are slightly annoyed that the team simply let Thomas Jones leave for nothing - Jones signed with the Chiefs for peanuts(2 years, $5 million) and the Jets reportedly had a chance to match it and decided not to. That said, calling Marshall 'scum' is a bit harsh. Still, it gives a bit of insight to the thinking of fans whose teams are being linked to Marshall.