Marshall, Newest Redskin, Hopes He Doesn’t Ruffle Feathers

WASHINGTON —  Shirt off and muscles on, Wilber Marshall posed for a life-sized poster recently with two menacing pit bulls at his side. The caption read: “Who’s Bad?”

His apparent theme is “tough,” an attribute that should come in handy this coming football season when opponents and teammates alike test his fortitude.

Forty-five Washington Redskin players just won a Super Bowl, and, yet, 45 Washington Redskins now make less money than Marshall, a 25-year-old linebacker who thinks Pro Bowl berths grow on trees.

“I’m going to go (to the Pro Bowl) as many times as I want to,” said Marshall, who has a new five-year, $6 million contract.

Publicly, his new teammates are noncommital regarding the aftershock of the $6 million deal, but a storm is privately brewing. Agents for defensive end Dexter Manley ($405,000 in 1988), wide receiver Ricky Sanders ($200,000), running back Timmy Smith ($90,000) and wide receiver Gary Clark ($247,000) already have hinted the need for renegotiation, and Clark’s agent happens to be Richard Bennett of the Washington-based Bennett and Owens Sports Management firm that represents Marshall.

Bennett congratulated the Redskins’ foresight in going after his man Marshall, then quickly added: “This is a very bizarre situation for me to be in, to be praising the efforts of (Redskin General Manager) Bobby Beathard. I’m sure it won’t be long until we’re calling each other dogs again.”

Marshall, though, has been in the middle of a wage war before. In 1984, drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round out of the University of Florida, Bennett used the USFL as leverage to get Marshall a $400,000 rookie contract, and veteran Bear linebacker Mike Singletary didn’t exactly meet Marshall at O’Hare airport.

Singletary didn’t meet him at Halas Hall either, because the Bears’ middle linebacker had already walked straight out of training camp. Subsequently, linebacker Al Harris and defensive back Todd Bell each held out the entire 1985 season, again a direct result of Marshall’s good fortune.

Later Singletary and Marshall temporarily made up, as they teamed with Otis Wilson to form a self-proclaimed “Bermuda Triangle” at linebacker.

But it was with Marshall in mind this season that Singletary asked the Bears for a so-called “favored-nation clause,” which precluded any other Bear from making more money than he.

In the end, that probably prevented the Bears from matching the Redskins’ offer sheet, because if they were going to pay Marshall $6 million, they had to pay Singletary $6,000,001.

Still, according to the Boston Globe, Bears’ President Michael McCaskey said he tried making a last-second deal with the Redskins to obtain more than just the two No. 1 college draft picks that were due the Bears as compensation.

“(The Redskins) didn’t want to change a thing,” McCaskey told the Globe. “We wanted something that would be a little more equitable. They knew we couldn’t match the offer.”

Beathard denies talking trade with the Bears.

Nevertheless, if history means anything, Marshall should be able to handle anything his new teammates do or say to him, because he dealt with plenty of adversity in Chicago.

In his first two seasons, defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan thought Marshall was useless and inserted him only after Coach Mike Ditka put his foot down and ordered him in. Also, Marshall always lived in the shadow of Singletary, like it or not, and sometimes he did not.

Last season, when Singletary was injured one week, a reporter asked Marshall what it would mean to the team, and he went into small tirade.

“The only person the press sees as a leader is him,” he told the Chicago Sun Times. “You don’t see anybody else! Why didn’t you ask if they missed my leadership (when Marshall was injured) last week? Singletary’s just like any other individual out there. We don’t depend on him all the time. He’s good, but everyone has the same amount of leadership.”

Sources within the Bears organization say they never completely understood Marshall and his moodiness, yet they say they never saw a player as wide-eyed.

“Four great years,” Marshall said, putting Ditka-Ryan-Halas Hall in perspective. “I did the best I could. I did all I could. I feel I’m starting to reach my prime now, and I’m hoping to do a lot better.”

Of Ditka, he said, “I remember when he said Dexter had the IQ of a fruit, or grapefruit, and I remember thinking, ‘You’re making this guy crazy.’ I wished Washington’s people had talked about me like that and made me crazy.”

Speaking of wide eyes, the Redskins hardly made this deal blindly. They brought Marshall to Redskin Park for a look-see a couple weeks before the offer sheet was signed, and he visited owner Jack Kent Cooke, executive vice president John Kent Cooke, Beathard, Coach Joe Gibbs, the practice facility, the weight room, receiver Art Monk’s home in northern Virginia. And so on.

“I’m appreciative of Mr. Cooke,” Marshall said. “He did something no other owner would try, sign a free agent. I’ve got to be in debt to someone who believes in me like that. And Coach Gibbs backed me. For them to do that, well, I’ll give them everything on the field.

“It ain’t the money (that drives him). To me, football is a game, and you play to win. They’re stepping out on a limb to win. That’s what’s important to me. Other owners care about profit; (Cooke) wants to win. That’s me to a tee. I want to win that (Super Bowl) trophy every year.”

He would like to wear jersey No. 58 and would like to play the right side, adjacent to Manley. “But I play about every position,” he said.

He has covered Miami’s swift wide receiver Mark Duper one-on-one and has tackled John Riggins one-on-one.

Generally, Masrhall gets five interceptions a year because of his ability to cover receivers, but he imagines he can follow Manley’s coattails (or Manley can follow his) to the quarterback, often.

“I think I’ll have an opportunity to do a lot of things, covering, playing nickel situations, blitzing more,” Marshall said.

“Sometimes, I’ll be that fifth guy (blitzing), but I can cover so well that other (linebackers) can tee off,” he said. “With the defensive backs they’ve got--er, we’ve got--it’ll be fun.”

The Redskins’ defensive coaches are currently out of town, scouting collegiate players, so they’ve yet to draw up all the possibilities. It’s possible, though, that there could be a completely new linebacking crew next season--right, left and middle.

Beathard said that defensive lineman Markus Koch will be tried as a middle linebacker in mini-camp, and outside people like Kurt Gouveia and Ravin Caldwell came on strong late last season and could move in.

Asked whether Koch could play the middle, Beathard said, “I don’t know. He’s a real good athlete and has looked good covering backs. They (Redskin coaches) used it in the playoffs, where he’d be in a three-point stance and drop back. He moves well enough to be in that situation. I mean, maybe that’s not the position for him, but we have to try.”

Current middle linebacker Neal Olkewicz (entering his 10th season) has declined comment on Marshall, as has left outside linebacker Mel Kaufman (entering his seventh season).

Meanwhile, Monte Coleman, the right-side linebacker entering his 10th year, is currently on his honeymoon and unavailable to comment.

Regardless, any chemistry the Redskins had at the end of last season at that position might be somewhat altered, so it’s clearly up to Marshall to blend in carefully.