Brandon Marshall: Why I Walked Away From Sports Talk TV

Marshall told Wright he didn’t respect his “take integrity” and angrily (and unsuccessfully) attempted to quit FS1. “I said, ‘I’m done with this show. I’m out of here, I dont respect it.”

During an interview with FOS, Wright offered a different version of the argument. But he admitted Marshall was right about one thing: Wright was repeatedly late for their morning meeting.

“By my recollection, what happened was I was criticizing Kawhi Leonard for what I thought was a wanton lack of leadership with the Clippers,,” Wright recalled. “Brandon, on the air, then tossed at me, ‘Well, you’re late to our morning meetings. Why are you criticizing him for being late?’ He’s not wrong. We had a set meeting every day at 5 o’clock, he said I got there at 5:05, 5:06, I got there every single day at 5:02. I don’t really know why. If I can get there every single day at 5:02, I could get there every day at 5:00. But I got there every day at 5:02. That is true. As I said, at times, I’m maybe not the easiest guy I work with.”

Marshall and Wright got over their beef and are now good friends. But it was another indicator to Marshall the time and effort he was putting into an on-air career wasn’t worth the money he was making at FS1.

Eventually, the pressure from working multiple TV gigs put Marshall into personal therapy. When the time came to renew his contract in 2021, he decided to build his own brand as an entrepreneur. Marshall later launched the I AM ATHLETE platform for athlete-driven content. While the original version of the podcast—which he co-hosted with Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder—fell apart, the brand has sustained, attracting over one million subscribers on YouTube, and the Netflix original podcast The White House with former Cowboys great Michael Irvin (which Marshall also produces).

Marshall said he hasn’t regretted his decision to leave traditional sports television. Along the way, he developed a new respect for sports TV workhorses like Wright, Bayless, Sharpe, Burleson, Strahan, Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith, who are able to handle the grind of weekday shows.

As Marshall recalled about his old schedule at FS1: “We have a production meeting for 20 at 5 a.m., then we have a two-hour show. And I’m making how much? As soon as you get off that call you have to prep for the next day. Then at night you have to watch all the stuff. When do you have time for your family? I respect everybody who is doing it. The Nate Burlesons of the world. But my dream is to represent the next wave of talent.”

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