ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos will start the season without wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was suspended by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for three games for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
Marshall was summoned to Goodell's New York offices on July 18 to explain a series of off-the-field misdeeds over the past year, most notably his March 6 arrest on a domestic violence warrant filed by his former girlfriend in Atlanta.
Marshall, who is due in court next month for a drunken driving trial, can have his suspension reduced to two games if he undergoes counseling and abides by other conditions, which the NFL did not specify.
"There's no basis for discipline," Marshall's lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, argued during an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday night. "Mr. Marshall has not been convicted nor charged with a crime."
The league's personal conduct policy that Goodell strengthened last year states: "It's not enough to simply avoid being found guilty of a crime. Instead, as an employee of the NFL or a member club, you are held to a higher standard. Persons who fail to live up to this standard are guilty of conduct detrimental and subject to discipline, even where the conduct itself does not result in conviction of a crime."
Marshall's suspension is much shorter than those given Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones and Michael Vick under Goodell's watch.
Marshall will appeal the suspension, Steinberg said while questioning whether that would be an act of futility: "I get to appeal to the guy who imposed the discipline," Steinberg said.
Steinberg was angry that he and Marshall learned of the commissioner's decision via a press release.
Steinberg said he also had no idea what conditions Marshall would have to meet aside from counseling to have the suspension reduced by a game.
"I am assuming the NFL will send out another press release to tell us," Steinberg said.
He said Marshall had been hoping for a simple warning and was disappointed to get slapped with a suspension.
"He's having one of his best training camps," Steinberg said. "I told him we would appeal it, and he's anxious to have some modicum of due process."
If the suspension stands, Marshall will miss the Broncos' season opener at Oakland on Sept. 8 and the team's home opener against San Diego the following week. They face New Orleans at home in Week 3.
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