LINCICOME: Punishment has little rhyme, reason

By Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 5, 2008 at 7:44 p.m.

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Nothing to match Brett Favre, of course, but the Broncos do have their own little carnival to manage, and more damaging in the long run than whatever happens over in the NFL (the National Favre League).

The punishment of Brandon Marshall had been looming for a while, not that the Broncos could prepare for it any better than the Packers have for their dithering quarterback.

At least the Favre thing is all ornamental, each side spitting on each other, and is likely to be settled with each side getting what it wants, Favre gone from Green Bay.

Things are a bit more precarious hereabouts, considering that Marshall is the only established piece of offense the Broncos have, the one that might worry the other team enough to prepare for.

Rookie Eddie Royal moving from kick returner specialist to No. 1 receiver shows about as much promise as a flight attendant taking over for the pilot.

Here's the short of it: Marshall is gone for three games; that's three losses. That's starting the season trying to climb up your own noose.

Could be only two games if Marshall is good, though being good is no more clear than being bad.

Not that losses would not happen anyway, the opener in Oakland being the only reasonable expectation for winning in the first three. San Diego and New Orleans, both at Invesco Field, nevertheless would seem to be hard slogs.

And just exactly why Marshall is suspended does seem rather erratic, based not in law nor logic but rather in a sense that something should be done.

All that noise must mean the young man is guilty of something. The cryptic notice from the league was that he had violated the "NFL Personal Conduct Policy." How Draconian is that? Why not double secret probation?

Whatever Marshall has done or not done, all that matters is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has decided it was not good. And Goodell does not have to define bad any more than Justice Potter did pornography. He knows it when he sees it.

Marshall has been a bit of a public jerk in the offseason, running afoul of Goodell's heavy-handed, Judge Roy Bean-like code, which, if strictly adhered to, would wipe out half the Hall of Fame.

Goodell's guidelines are vague except that he wants the NFL to be represented by outstanding citizens as well as great football players, and the last couple of those we saw around here - Rod Smith and John Lynch - were guilty of something even worse, getting old.

The case of Lynch is not too dissimilar to Favre, an older player being reduced to just another guy, a heartless part of the football business. Lynch thinks he can play somewhere else, just as Favre does. Each will likely get that chance.

But the point here is that good citizenship and loyalty are much further down the list of important things than Goodell would have them. Winning matters first, second and somewhere into double figures.

Marshall getting arrested three times in a year and a half does seem to violate the outstanding citizen part of the Goodell Rules, and however great a football player he will be cannot be helped if he is not playing football.

More importantly, a conviction on any of the charges against Marshall would seem to be necessary for so severe a reprimand, and the only one pending - a DUI charge - isn't set to be settled until a week after the season starts.

Since the NFL and Goodell have already essentially and very publicly determined Marshall to be guilty, it is impossible to imagine Marshall getting a fair hearing in court.

And then what? With an actual conviction on his record, even if just a fine, that would mean another bit of discipline wouldn't it? If you can kick a guy for something he might have done, then you have to kick him again once you've helped establish he actually did it.

The way this is going, Marshall might not be back by Halloween.

Having gone through the Travis Henry examination a season ago, and ultimately being vindicated, Mike Shanahan and the Broncos might just be too weary to do it again, especially since Henry turned out to be not worth the bother.

Shanahan was a bit testy about inquiries into Marshall's fate, suggesting that he does not want nor need the burden of answering any question from the media that he does not like.

The coach would be talking to the press every day, and where would that lead, except to civil discourse?

Can't have that.

• August 5, 2008

  8:09 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  Lincicome, do us all a favor and just shut the h*ll up! Please. God, you are annoying.

• August 5, 2008

  8:12 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  westwoods writes:

  "Here's the short of it: Marshall is gone for three games; that's three losses. That's starting the season trying to climb up your own noose...Not that losses would not happen anyway, the opener in Oakland being the only reasonable expectation for winning in the first three. San Diego and New Orleans, both at Invesco Field, nevertheless would seem to be hard slogs."

  Dude...Bernie? Are you just trying to be offensive. You are ridiculous.

• August 5, 2008

  8:24 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  westwoods writes:

  You do realize that you work for a Denver paper? Those two lines should be more the enough for you to "get quit"!!!! That is in no way factual and you are baselessly speculating that Denver can't win without a WR. Earth to Bernie...the Raiders are not a good team. They have won one more game over the course of the last five years (19 wins) than the Pats won last year (18 wins)! They get a rookie RB and a couple of overpriced FAs and you're guaranteeing a loss without BMarsh? WOW!!!

• August 5, 2008

  9:19 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  incognitoboy writes:

  for those who have apparently never read a bernie column before, let me enlighten you as to the modus operandi of our intrepid instigator...... he loves to tick you off.

  and not just a little. his smarmy, sardonic, and yet literate style is actually meant to elicit such venomous responses from the great unwashed denver broncos fan base, most of whom type their responses, if not actually think them, at approximately a 7th grade level. while i myself used to think him entertaining, his shtick has worn a little thin lately.

  smith. lynch. lincicome? one can always dream.......

• August 5, 2008

  9:35 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Spider writes:

  This just in....Bernice being investigated for plagiarism. Ignacio Chieftan cub reporter turns her in when he realized that Bernice couldn't possibly know the meaning of the word "Draconian". Bernice could be banned from writing at least until Halloween. (Guess we couldn't be that luck could we?)

• August 5, 2008

  9:58 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  Spider, yeah, he's a real prize, huh?
  Incognitoboy, 7th grade level, huh? This coming from an article typed by you, that doesn't capitalize the 1st letter of a new sentence or the letter "I" when used alone... Hmmmmm, just a thought (just razzing you). But yes, Lincicome is a bit irritating.

• August 6, 2008

  6:40 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  mrfxx writes:

  Lincicombe seems to be operating under the misconception that a sports writer, in an effort to be "fair" must bash the home team(s) at every opportunity. The fact that one can be a "homer" (always root for the home team, win, lose or draw) doesn't mean that we don't see their faults and flaws - it just means that we really want "our boys" to win - and tend to get a little cranky when sports writers have absolutely no ability to present a fair and balanced assessment of the team. Perhaps Bernie is unaware that the Broncos haven't started the regular season yet and that (wild guess on my part, of course), expecting this to happen, the coaching staff just MIGHT have come up with game plans that could feature a receiver corps minus Marshall, just as they would have come up with that kind of game plan had he been injured. Perhaps it will be less effective than without him - on the other hand, the receivers lined who want his jobs are going to be showcasing from now thru the end of his suspension (not to mention the running back corps who will also want to prove their effectiveness - and the defensive corps which has to know they will have to keep the other team from scoring until we have other proven scoring threats of our own).

• August 6, 2008

  8:23 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Chicago_Bronco writes:

  There's a guy out here in Chicago just like you, his name is Jay Mariotti. Guess what, his local readers hate him too. I can't even make it through one of your articles, its just an angry rant that sounds like you were drunk at the time you wrote it. Read your article today vs. Woody Paige's (low road vs. high road, respectively). Why do you still have a job?

• August 6, 2008

  9:38 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  David_R writes:

  All this whining about Marshall ignores the fact that he acted like a spoiled little rich kid who thinks that normal rules or decorum of society don't apply to him.

  If he would mature and use his God given and hard earned talents to play football instead of acting like he's entitled to anything he desires, this discussion wouldn't be taking place. In the meantime, he has to face any consequences for his actions like any other mere mortal.

• August 6, 2008

  12:18 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BroncoRick69 writes:

  Dude, Linciome totally hits the scotch just before writing everytime, I swear. His writing is more like dirges of self-loathe than anything else. You can almost smell the alcohol wafting out of his every orifice. What a waste of money, and now of my time having to once again point out what an idiot this guy is.

• August 6, 2008

  2:57 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  P_Denver writes:

  Chicago,

  It's pretty sad when you have to compare someone to Woody Paige to make him look good . . . .

• August 6, 2008

  4:27 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  incognitoboy writes:

  hey Dynamicdave- (see? i can capitalize) the whole lower-case thingy is just an affectation that keeps me different; born out of laziness and long-since-corrected poor typing skills. When I want to, I can be quite adept and correct with my capitalization, etc.

  like i said, it's just something to keep me different. my wife hates it. but thanks for the razz..... it's nice to know somebody out there cares! ;-)

  BroncoRick69- which brand, do you think? my bet is on 'old granddad'

• August 6, 2008

  9:25 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  incognitoboy, no problem, glad I could help. Oh, and Lincicome drinks MD 20 20. I don't think he could afford Scotch on his salary.

• August 6, 2008

  9:59 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  rc writes:

  It's called "Roger's Revenge".

  What THenry started, let BMarsh be put asunder.

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