Bush League

If there is one thing I hate, its when a coach, especially one who never played the game or didn't play it on a high level, questions one of his player's toughness who has been one of his key contributors all year, because the guy gets injured.

You have to understand that there isn't much more disrespectful for a football player than to have some asshole who probably has never ever experience the kind of pain in their life that you walk around with daily during the season try to call you out for not being tough. Especially if you are a guy who has played through injury time and time again and has helped said asshole through your efforts, attain some notoriety.



Today's asshole is Denver's rookie head Josh McDaniels, a guy who seems to be panicking before his game Sunday which will determine if his team gets into the playoffs or not. His target today was his Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall, pretty low hanging fruit I must say. I mean after all Marshall has been accused of being a head case in the past, has been in trouble with the law in the past and was suspended in the preseason just earlier this year.

But you see here is the problem, Brandon Marshall put up big numbers this year, numbers good enough to get him voted to the Pro Bowl even after all the drama to start the year, and but for him the Broncos likely would have stunk up the joint. He was damn near the only big play option on offense for them and he took big hits and bounced up all year to make more plays. But now because McDaniels has decided that in addition to be a coach he is a trainer and a doctor and doesn't think Marshall's injury is all that bad, he comes out and questions the guy's toughness?

Seriously?

There is also another tell about McDaniels. In addition to Brandon Marshall, he also chose to bench tight end Tony Scheffler because of his "attitude". So this coach who is going into maybe the biggest game of his short career as a head coach so far decides to publicly humiliate one of his best players who wasn't going to play anyway and hasn't had any issues with since the season started and in fact played so well that he was voted in to the Pro Bowl, and he decides to bench another major contributor on offense because of his "attitude". Yeah I can't wait to see how that works out for you coach.

Thing of it is, McDaniels will probably get cover on this one from the media. They won't think to ask themselves if another coach has ever pulled this kind of ridiculous shit before a big game. Nor will most of them probably give Marshall the benefit of a doubt. Instead they will likely talk about how much "guts" it takes for McDaniels to make this kind of decision. But remember, the only decision McDaniels really made was to come out and embarrass his player. Marshall was already not likely to play because of his hamstring so benching him was really a moot point. I would hope some sports pundits would point that out, but I am not holding my breath.

It is going to be very interesting to see how the Broncos play for their asshole coach on Sunday. I am pretty sure that there are guys on that team respect what Marshall has done for them all year and might not take too kindly to McDaniels' antics. Especially because if there is one thing football players know its that what is done to one guy can definitely be done to you too. Really I will also be watching McDaniels closely because I have a feeling that if he is freaking out like this now before the game then its likely he will have a full blown meltdown during the game if things don't go their way early.

If and when he does you can best believe I will be sure to point it out too. Lets see how he likes being the one getting called out.