City of North Las Vegas honors Brandon Marshall

The City of North Las Vegas declared Wednesday “Brandon Marshall Day” in honor of the linebacker who played at Cimarron-Memorial High School and later at UNR and in the NFL.

“Not (too) many times a man gets blessed with his own day in his city,” Marshall tweeted.

Marshall, 30, played for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012 and then the following six seasons for the Denver Broncos. He started 63 of 69 games for the Broncos and topped 100 tackles three times, including the 2015 season in which the team won the Super Bowl.

The Raiders signed Marshall before and during the season last year but cut him both times. He is now a free agent.

Marshall has been active in his community. He donated $5,000 to the North Las Vegas library district in October 2017, and in January 2019, in conjunction with the city, he handed out boxes to needy families that included hygiene products, food vouchers and a tablet computer.

Marshall also has been socially active, drawing national attention in 2016 for kneeling during the national anthem. He played at UNR with quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who in 2016 became the first NFL player to kneel during the anthem.

“Back then (in 2016), we were called rogues, people said that we didn’t deserve jobs, but this is what we were talking about then,” Marshall told ESPN on June 1. “I think people are looking at (Kaepernick) now like, ‘OK, maybe he knew.’ People didn’t want to hear the message after ‘Oh, they were kneeling.’ They didn’t want that message, weren’t ready for it, didn’t listen.

“I hope, and I look at it, I hope people are ready for the message. I really hope they’re ready for change.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.