"It's tough": Once an undisputed fan favorite, Brandon Marshall now showered with hate

Brandon Marshall’s journey to Denver is well documented. The multiple times cut, the coaches telling him he wasn’t good enough, the doubt in himself at times, it’s all part of an amazing story that built the Broncos star linebacker into a fan favorite over the past few years.

All of that changed, though, on Thursday night.

After careful deliberation, Marshall made the choice to stand—or to kneel—with his brother. Marshall made the decision that he, too, had seen enough social injustice in this country. So he joined his former Nevada teammate and fraternity brother, Colin Kaepernick and he took to a knee during the national anthem.

All of the sudden, the love that has been showered upon him from the Mile High City, turned sour. Many of the fans that have cheered him in the Orange & Blue rained hate upon him. And while he said he was prepared for the consequences of his actions, it wasn’t easy coming from the supporters he loved.

“It’s tough. It’s tough because as you said, I’ve become a fan favorite,” he admitted. “The organization, I feel like they love me. The front office loves me and so do my teammates. The fans, to hear them cussing me out and hearing them saying, ‘You’ve lost a fan’ and ‘I don’t respect you anymore,’ it’s tough.

“I think I have to realize that I have to categorize everything,” he added. “I know that the people that are really about me, really for me, that really support me, they’re still going to support me, regardless. They’re not going to bash me, cuss me out and call me derogatory terms.”

Potentially the hardest part for “B-Marsh” is that no matter what he says, no matter how much he tries to explain that he respects this country and he respects the military, there are people that will only focus on what they see, not what they hear.

“There’s nothing that I can say,” he explained. “Regardless of what I say, it’s going to be spun in a different way or they are still going to say what they want and believe what they want. That’s fine. I’m not here to change anyone’s beliefs. That’s not the goal. I don’t want to change anybody’s beliefs. We’re here to help affect change in the community. That’s what I’m doing.”

Brandon Marshall’s intentions are good, this cannot be disputed. And while many are well within their rights to disagree with his course of action, none can claim that if the end goal is met and changes are made that the overall protest was a bad thing.

“As far as my patriotism, I think that shouldn’t be in question because I’m just upholding my rights,” he concluded. “I can protest peacefully. I can stand or sit. I can say what I feel like saying. That’s what our military has fought for, the ability for everybody to be themselves and to be their own person. I’m just exercising that right and I will continue to do that.”

Even if there’s nothing Brandon Marshall can do to change the hate, there’s nothing the hate can do to change Brandon Marshall.