Wilber Marshall

Wilber Buddyhia Marshall (born April 18, 1962 in Titusville, Florida) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears, the Washington Redskins, the Houston Oilers, the Arizona Cardinals, and the New York Jets. He was a member of two Super Bowl winning teams during his career: the 1985 Bears winners of Super Bowl XX, and Super Bowl XXVI with the 1991 Redskins. Marshall was named to the Pro Bowl following the 1986, 1987 and 1992 seasons.

College career

Marshall attended the University of Florida, where he was a member of the Florida Gators football team. He was named "National Defensive Player of the Year" in 1983 by ABC Sports. He was All-American and a finalist for the Lombardi Award in both 1982 and 1983. In 1999, the University of Florida named Marshall a first-team selection to the "Team of the Century", and also named Marshall the "Defensive Player of the Century". He made the College Football All-America Team twice (1982, 1983) and left Florida with 343 tackles and school record 23 sacks.^[1] On August 16, 2007, Marshall was named to the University of Florida's Ring of Honor, joining Florida greats Steve Spurrier, Jack Youngblood, Emmitt Smith, and Danny Wuerffel.^[2]

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Marshall is perhaps best known as a significant member of two Super Bowl championship teams, the 1985 Bears and the 1991 Redskins. In 1985, the Bears, behind one of the most celebrated defenses in league history, finished the regular season 15-1, shut out both opponents in the playoffs, and beat the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. In a 37-17 week 16 victory over the Detroit Lions, Marshall delivered a vicious hit on Lions' quarterback Joe Ferguson that left Ferguson flat on his back, knocked out cold. But perhaps Marshall's most memorable moment came in the 1985 NFC Championship Game, against the Los Angeles Rams. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, snow began to fall at Soldier Field, eliciting loud applause from the Bears fans in attendance. On the next play, Bears defensive end Richard Dent sacked Rams quarterback Dieter Brock, causing Brock to fumble the football. Marshall picked up the loose football and, alongside William Perry, ran 52 yards through the falling snow. The Bears beat the Rams 24-0, and Marshall's fumble return for touchdown continues to be the highlight from that game most replayed. Fox News Chicago also named that play to be the most iconic moment of the game, and of the season, as well. Many people surmise that the snow was George Halas giving his approval of the team. He also had a good performance in the Super Bowl, recording a sack and recovering a fumble. In 1986, Marshall recorded five interceptions and 5.5 sacks and was named First-team All-Pro for the first time.

Washington Redskins

In the spring of 1988, Marshall became the first NFL free agent in eleven years to sign with another team, agreeing to a five year/six million dollar contract offer to play for the Washington Redskins, the team that had eliminated the Bears from the NFL playoffs in each of the previous two seasons.^[3] When the Bears declined to match the offer, the Redskins had to give them their two first-round draft picks in the next two NFL Drafts as compensation.

Marshall won another championship ring with the Redskins in the 1991 season, when they beat the Buffalo Bills 37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI, and Marshall finished the game with several tackles and a sack. A week before that, he had a superb performance in the Redskins 41-10 win over the Detroit Lions, sacking Detroit quarterback Erik Kramer three times. Marshall was named second-team All-Pro following the 1991 season and was named first-team All-Pro for the second time in his career following the 1992 season. In 1993, Marshall reunited with Buddy Ryan, who had been the Bears' defensive coordinator during Marshall's first two seasons, signing a contract to play for the Houston Oilers. When Ryan left the Oilers to become head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 1994, Marshall joined him there for one season. He then finished his NFL career in 1995 as a member of the New York Jets.

In his 12 NFL seasons, Marshall recorded 45 sacks and intercepted 23 passes, which he returned for 304 yards and three touchdowns. He also recovered 16 fumbles, returning them for 70 yards and one touchdown. He is among the few players who have recorded 20 Sacks/20 Interceptions in their career.

After football

Marshall spent much of his life after football suffering from injuries he sustained during his professional career. His health declined as the years progressed, but he refused to receive surgery to repair his injured spine, shoulders, and knees. Permanently disabled, Marshall’s days of battling other players have been replaced with days of fighting with the NFL and the players' union over a settlement pertaining to his injuries. His former coach, Mike Ditka, has aided in Marshall’s fight by forming a coalition to raise additional awareness. ^[4] Eventually in 2008, Marshall finally prevailed in his long pending dispute over his entitlement to total disability benefits from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, however, by this time he had gone into bankruptcy.^[5] He currently resides in Sterling, Virginia.

Honors

Marshall was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

Marshall is a 2007 inductee into the Gator Football Ring of Honor. He became the fifth former Gator player to be inducted, on September 29, 2007, before the Florida-Auburn football game.^[6]

As a former player at Astronaut High School, he was named in 2007 to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team.^[7]

References