The Moment You Have to Decide | Brandon Marshall

Michael Gervais (0:02)

The Super Bowl becomes everything. There is so much noise.

Brandon Marshall (0:07)

You have three hours to tell everybody what you know about this game.

Michael Gervais (0:12)

The game is everywhere. Okay, Brandon, were you more of a field player or a data player?

Brandon Marshall (0:29)

I was a more, I'm a field guy. Like I go through life just feeling. And now I am embracing more data.

Michael Gervais (0:40)

When you played, how did you use data? Information that was objectively observable, that there was something that you could study to better inform yourself?

Brandon Marshall (0:50)

Yeah, so phases throughout the career, NFL career, the biggest is film, collecting data there. And that's a process, that's a journey. When I had my breakthrough moment, when I would, you know, if I'm talking about film and the data around film was probably year nine, year 10 And I'm watching the Patriots and they were watching me and they saw if I had my right foot up, and I was plus one yard from the numbers, I would run a certain route. And so I dictate how do they play me. And so I just saw how they were communicating the corner in the safety one game because I couldn't get off the line. It was just, just an average Joe type at corner. And he was strapping me up, meaning I couldn't catch the ball.

Michael Gervais (1:40)

He knew what you were doing because he studied you.

Brandon Marshall (1:42)

So I was like, what is going on here? So I saw how they were communicating, and they had everything down. And so at half time, I do the opposite. And then after the game, I start watching film a little bit more. And I said, ah, here's my tails. They got my tails before I got my tails. And then the second game, because it was against the Patriots, we played them twice a year when I was with the Jets. The second game, I had it all down, and it was just an amazing game for myself in the offense.

Michael Gervais (2:08)

When, so that was real time. You are taking in a lot of information. You're struggling in the game. And then you figured out in that moment like they got me wired. Yes, they have studied me, and they know my tells. What about the film that would come to the sidelines? And let's rewind like, I don't know, 10 years ago, you see the coaches, they'd be flipping through paper. There was a printer on the side. Do you remember this? There's a printer on the sideline.

Brandon Marshall (2:35)

Well, no, I don't remember. I'm not that old. That was before my time.

Michael Gervais (2:39)

I don't know.

Brandon Marshall (2:40)

No, no, no, I never. Yes, I was in the game when they had the papers and we look at the papers. I never saw the printers on the sidelines.

Michael Gervais (2:47)

There was a printer right in the back. That's how they got there. So I remember the first time on the sidelines, I looked and there's a printer and I'm like, what is that for? And then I see this kind of janky black and white paper. So somebody was taking pictures from above, sending it to our printer. And then the coaches would grab it and like you would look at. So on that, that's data too.

Brandon Marshall (3:09)

That's right. 100%.

Michael Gervais (3:10)

Would you use that data to help inform you? And if so, how was that data useful?

Brandon Marshall (3:15)

Both are important. That's why I said, you know, I was a field guy. Field guy, I would go out there, I can just feel where everyone is at. And that's a different type of mastery physically and athletically, right? Where you can just feel the game, your basketball, football IQ is through the roof, right? But if you really want to master the sport, then you have to collect all that. So for me, I would go out there and say I have a slant route and I'm on the right side and it's a five yards and you slant in, okay? If I felt the guy leaning, I would go back to the quarterback and I would say, hey, we got our sluggle, which is five yards, slant and then come back out, touchdown.

Michael Gervais (3:53)

Yeah, explain a sluggo.

Brandon Marshall (3:55)

A sluggo is a slant and go, okay? And so I would feel that and I would call that and Coach Shanahan, Jay Cutler will listen to me and it would be right. But now what happened, once we got those tablets on the field, on the sideline, now it would confirm. So it's like, oh yeah, we see what you see, B. Quarterback coach is now communicating to the quarterback, quarterback communicating to the office coordinator. No, listen to B, he's right. Look at the pitcher, look at slide five. Slide five, he's inside. I can't throw that, so it might be a pick six. Let's go sluggo, B's right.