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Florham Park – Where is talk show host Maury Povich when we need him? This is a tough one to figure out. It has many baffled.
Did Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall boycott Jets (voluntary) practices last week to show solidarity with Ryan Fitzpatrick?
Perhaps we need Maury Povich to hook them up to a detector machine like he is wont to do on his show.
The New York Post reported Decker did boycott the Jets mini-camp last week. And the reporter who broke that story has strong sources in the Decker camp.
As for Marshall, many assumed he did boycott, but no reporter was able to confirm this. It was pure conjecture.
But ironically, Decker came out and said he wasn’t boycotting, but Marshall’s answer was a lot more mysterious.
“That’s not the reason I wasn’t here,” Decker said about the boycott speculation. “I told coach where I was and what I was doing. I was with my family.”
After Decker’s press conference, I asked the New York Post writer if he stood by his story, and he said he did.
As for Marshall, he said, “I supported Ryan all off-season and haven’t changed. Like I said, it’s a thin line between supporting your teammate and being detrimental to the team.”
Marshall’s was asked several questions about his absence, and each answer was circumspect, not offering much clarity.
“He’d make a good politician,” joked one newspaper photographer after Marshall’s press briefing.
At one point, a writer in the media scrum whispered to another writer what he thought Marshall meant.
Marshall heard the whispering and calmly said “Don’t put words in my mouth.”
Marshall had the press room baffled with his answers. What it a boycott or not? To get an outside perspective on this, I sent the soundbite to a long-time political writer I know to get his take. This guy has seen everything. Here is his take on Marshall’s mysterious quotes . . .
“I think the fact that he offered an esoteric answer makes the story better,” said the writer, who has written a number of books. “Mysteries are best when they’re unsolved. He says he supported Fitz all off-season–it’s still the off-season right? On the other hand, he talks about the ‘fine line’ between supporting a teammate and conduct detrimental to the team. As far as non-answer answers go, it was great. I think his actions speak louder than his words. He said what he intended to say by playing hooky. He’s basically saying he needn’t say anything more than that. Message sent.”
I think this guy nailed it.
Last week, I surmised, after being around Decker for a couple of years, I felt there was no way he was going to stand in front of his locker and admit that he was making a political statement last week by boycotting.
In my opinion, Decker and Marshall wanted to make a statement, but not come back and rub it in the face of their employer.
June 1, 2016
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