Brandon Marshall: I'm a Victim of a Shakedown

We're still waiting for any fallout from the revelation that Brandon Marshall was arrested for the third time in 12 months in March but Marshall is going on the offensive against his accuser. He claims that Rasheedah Watley was trying to extort money and a car from him in exchange for keeping their affairs out of a courtroom. Her attorney emailed Harvey Steinberg, attorney for Marshall, and Steinberg provided details of the email to the Rocky Mountain News.

More than a year later, in an e-mail to Steinberg, O'Marra maintained that Marshall had offered to put Watley up in a furnished apartment for a year, get her a car comparable to her former BMW 645 and put $30,000 in her checking account, and that a settlement of $150,000 would be accepted. Five days later, that figure had shrunk to $100,000.

That was more than a year after a previous domestic violence charge against Marshall. When he refused to comply, Steinberg claims that the most recent charges, which he calls "unfounded," came to light. He also said the March incident was a figment of the imagination.

It's hard to believe that assertion. The Denver Post reports that when police were summoned to Marshall's home on March 4th, they found the receiver bleeding from a cut on his hand. Watley claims that Marshall found a text message from another man on her phone and beat her as a result.

Marshall's own recounting of the events place him and Watley in an argument on the date in question.

"Basically, what it was is I had just gotten into town and the relationship was basically over. I told her it was time to end it now, and she didn't like that. We've been dating off and on since the eighth grade, and she said, 'I'm going to ruin you.' The only thing I did was try to get out of the house."

Steinberg, who repped Travis Henry in his successful appeal against the league, must be hoping that a fuller story plays in Marshall's favor. Given past actions from Roger Goodell, however, it's hard to see this playing out without a suspension for Marshall.